YuGiOh Generations: Dimension of Shadows
by Ruin Queen of Oblivion
Summary: Katie Motou and her friends are faced with the Duelist Dimension Tournament. The conclusion is up, after she beats Victoria, Katie must defeat the villain behind all thats happened, the demon Doppler. Can she win? Find out in, Boss Rush.
1. Back to Square One

_I think its time to have a little fun._

_I tried this before, but I got it a bit wrong._

_I'd like to welcome back the Yu-Gi-Oh Generations stories._

_But this time, the adventures are different, the decks are kind of the same, and the duelists, well, the duelists will just kick more butt._

_Time to duel._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but hey, a girl can dream._

**000**

_**If you like to play Duel Monsters, you probably have heard of Yugi Motou.**_

_**He is considered by many to be one of the greatest duelists of all time, I should know...**_

_**He's my father.**_

_**My name is Katie Motou.**_

_**And its time to take the Battle Ox by the horns.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**YU-GI-OH GENERATIONS:**

**DIMENSION OF SHADOWS.**

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**BACK TO SQUARE ONE**

**0000000000**

**00000**

At Domino High in Dommino City Japan, 4 friends are gathered around a table, and two of them are playing a game of Duel Monsters.

"I'll admit, Darren, your monsters are pretty good," a girl says, looking over her hand. She has a Dark Magician Girl and a face down monster on the field.

"Thanks Katie," Darren says, looking smug, he has a Gravekeeper's Chief and a Don Zaloog on the field, with Necrovalley in play.

The score stands with Katie at 2200 and Darren at 2500.

"But its my move," Katie says, and draws. "I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards. "Now, I activate Sage's Stone, and I can summon Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my deck," she says, and puts the card down.

Off at another table, a girl with long red hair picks up some of the duel.

_So, she's the daughter of my father's old rival and my uncle's old friend, maybe she's the one who can help me,_ she thinks. _But I must test her first, I will challenge her after school._

Katie ends the duel by having Dark Magician attack Darren directly.

"Aww man, your just too good," Darren says, slaming his fist on the table.

"Hey watch it, I'm trying to eat here!" A girl with short blonde hair says as she steadies her food before it falls on her.

"Oh sorry Renee," Darren says sheepishly, and then goes back to ranting. "Why can't I ever win? Why, someone please tell me!"

"Well, you rely a lot on cards with your Gravekeepers, but not so much of ones that help your Dark Scorpions," The fourth member of the group, a girl with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail named Wendy Wheeler. "You might want to add a few warrior helping cards."

"Hey, my dad can help," Katie says. "I can take you to our game shop after school, and you can get some help with your deck."

"That sounds good," Darren says.

**000**

Later after school, Katie and her friends enter the Kame Game Shop. Yugi Motou, the reigning King of Games looks up at their entrance.

"Oh hi Katie, I see you brought your friends," he says.

"Yep, Darren here needs some help with his warriors," Katie says.

Darren takes out his deck, and hands it to Yugi.

"Hmm, pretty good dark warriors," Yugi says, and puts the cards down. "I have just the thing for you, Darren."

He looks through some of his binders.

"Negative Energy, doubles the attack of all Dark Monsters on the field, and these cards just got released recently."

He takes out 5 monsters, and Darren looks at them.

"More Dark Scorpions?" He wonders out loud.

"Yes, and since your a friend of Katie's, your free to have..." Yugi starts but is interrupted by the door being opened again.

The red-haired girl from before is standing in the doorway, instead of the usual school uniform, she has a long white trench coat over a blue shirt and skirt. Her face is soft, but you can see in her eyes that she's not one to mess with.

"Isn't that the new girl at school?" Darren asks.

"Yeah, Ariel, I never caught her las..." Katie starts, and then notices something on the collar of Ariel's trench coat, the letters KC in gold, the logo of the Kaiba Corperation. "Ariel Kaiba?"

"Thats my name, don't wear it out," Ariel says in a soft tone. "I thought I'd make a stop by, and get some cards."

She buys a few card packs from Yugi, and makes some adjustments to her deck.

_She seems friendly enough, but I fear she holds some dark secret inside her,_ Yugi thinks, and thinks to the Millenium Puzzle Katie was attempting to complete.

The puzzle's pieces had been scattered to different parts of the world years ago, but they had managed to gather together the pieces.

That is, all but one.

"Oh Katie, I think you'll want this," Ariel says, and takes something golden out of her pocket, its the final piece of the Millenium Puzzle!

"Where'd you get that?" Katie asks.

"I have my ways," Ariel says. "And if you want it, you'll have to duel me for it."

"Fine, get your deck out," Katie says.

"Not here, come with me," Ariel says, and leads them out to her limo.

**000**

10 minutes later, the group is in one of the Kaiba Corp. Dueling Arenas. Wendy, Renee, Darren, and Yugi are sitting in the stands as Katie and Ariel are in the spots at the Dueling Station.

"Alright Katie, are you ready to duel?" Ariel asks, shuffling her deck.

"Ready when you are, Ariel," Katie says.

"What do you think we can expect from these two?" Renee asks.

"Well, we already know that Katie uses a lot of spellcasters, but we can only guess what Ariel will use," Wendy says. "Her father used a lot of Dragons, maybe she will too. And even my Yamoto can't hold a feather to a Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"I'll go first," Ariel says, and draws. "I activate, the Sanctuary in the Sky!"

The change is dramatic, clouds appear all over the arena, and a huge castle appears behind Ariel.

"That, thats a fairy field!" Renee says.

"Yes, which dosen't make sense," Darren says.

"Oh yes it does," Wendy says with a sigh.

"Wendy, do you know something we don't?" Yugi asks.

"Do you remember hearing about a duelist on the Pro League about a year ago, deemed unbeatable, she never lost a single match and took the league by storm?" Wendy asks.

"Yeah, some girl named Ria Ekilba, used a combination of Dragons, fairies, and warriors," Darren says. "I keep track of the Pro League."

"Yes, yes, she beat several of the best duelists in the league, including Zane Truesdale, Jaden Yuki, and Ed Pheonix," Wendy says. "No one could make a single strategy that could beat her, her deck was too complex."

"I may sound stupid by asking this, but whats that got to do with Ariel?" Darren asks.

"Ria Ekilba is an anagram for, Ariel Kaiba," Wendy says plainly.

Now back to the duel.

"Now I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Ariel says.

Katie draws. "I summon Skilled White Magician (1700/1900), in attack mode!" She says, and a monster wearing a white skullcap and carrying a staff appears. "Now attack her face down monster!"

Ariel smirks, and when the spellcaster blasts the face down monster, its blasted back by another magical blast, and Katie's life points fall to 3900.

"What is that?" Katie demands.

"One of my favorite monsters, and one of my only spellcasters, now she will show herself," Ariel says, and a beautiful woman appears, she looks a lot like an older version of Ariel, wearing a skin-tight leather outfit, and brandishing a staff, and then Katie notices something.

"That, thats a Dark Scorpion!" She says in realization, recognizing the black tatoo on the monster's shoulder.

"Very good, this is one of the latest members, and only non-warrior Ari the Magical (1300/1800)," Ariel says. "Ari was once an egyptian priestess before corruption drove her to become a member of the Dark Scorpions, where her magic has come in handy time and time again. Speaking of which, you allowed me to use her special ability."

Ariel picks up her deck, and takes out a card, then puts it in her hand and reshuffles.

"But we'll get to that later, is that all?" She asks.

"I can't believe it, there's a Dark Scorpion member I've never heard of," Darren says.

"Its one of the cards I'm going to give to you once this is over," Yugi says.

"One card face down, and I'm done for now," Katie says.

Ariel draws, and thinks for a minute. "This will do, I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0), in attack mode!" She says, and a dragon with a long nose appears. "And I switch Ari to attack mode, now attack her monster my dragon!"

"Negate Attack!" Katie counters.

"Fine, your move," Ariel says.

Katie draws. "I activate Spell Economics and Dark Magical Curtain, to summon from my deck, the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" She says, and the magician clothed in purple robes appears with a spin of his staff. "Now, attack Ari, Dark Magic attack!"

The magician sends a blast of dark magic, and destroys the young thief, Ariel's life points fall to 2800.

"Activate trap card, Scorpion's Revenge, by destroying one of the Dark Scorpions, I can summon another one from my deck," Ariel says, and takes a card out of her deck, and a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, wearing a skimpy tight fitting outfit that shows a lot of clevage, and carrying a sword encrested with a rose appears. "Meet another new member of the Dark Scorpions, the lovely Rose the Seductive (500/2000) in defense mode!"

Rose giggles, and winks at Yugi and Darren, who sweatdrop.

"I think they made these holograms too realistic," Yugi says.

"I agree," Darren says.

"Who is she, some sort of harlot?" Katie asks.

"Don't call Rose that, she's much more than a harlot, she was at one time the wife of a great king, until he was assasinated, she escaped to assist the Dark Scorpions," Ariel says. "Is that your move?"

"Yeah," Katie says.

Ariel draws. "Rose, activate your ability!" She says.

Rose smiles seductively, and floats over to the Dark Magician, whispering something in his ear, after a minute, the dark spellcaster floats over to Ariel's side.

"What on earth?" Katie says in suprise.

"Once per turn, Rose can seduce a male monster on the opponent's side of the field, and that includes your Dark Magician, but in exchange I cannot have a battle phase this turn," Ariel explains. "I'll just end with one card face down."

Katie draws. _Okay, now I have to be carefull about what monsters I summon,_ she thinks, looking her hand over. "I activate Cost Down, and discard this card, so I can summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and the cute female apprentice of the Dark Magician appears with a twirl of her wand, and a wink. "And she's angry for you taking controll of her master with such cheep tricks, now I activate the magic card, Mana's Rage!"

_Mana, she was the apprentace of Mahado in Ancient Egypt, and the embodyment of the Dark Magician Girl,_ Ariel thinks. _I sense Mana's spirit in Katie._

"Uhh, Ariel, are you alright, you kinda spaced out," Katie says.

"Oh, sorry," Ariel says.

"Okay, Mana's Rage can only be activated when the opponent has taken controll of the Dark Magician, this returns the Dark Magician to my side, and if the card that took controll of him is still in play, the card is destroyed," Katie says, and the seductress dissapears. "Now, Dark Magician Girl, attack her Spear Dragon!"

The female magician blasts away the dragon, Ariel's life points drop to 2700.

"Now, Dark Magician, direct attack, Dark Magic Attack!"

"Counter, A Hero Emerges!" Ariel counters. "Now pick a card in my hand, and if its a monster, it is summoned to the field in attack or defense mode."

She shows her remaining three cards.

"Fine, I pick the one in the middle," Katie says, and Ariel grins.

"Thanks, you just let me summon my favorite monster without a tribute, go Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500), in attack mode!" Ariel says, and the beautiful white dragon appears with her trademark roar.

"Wow, thats a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Renee says.

"Thats one of the original Blue-Eyes White Dragons, one of the first copies ever made," Ariel says. "Only one person has been known to have them, Ariel's father, and... my uncle, Seto Kaiba," Wendy says.

"Your uncle is Seto Kaiba?" Darren says in suprise.

"Yeah, he married my Aunt Serenity, much to my father's objection," Wendy replies.

"Blue-Eyes, counter attack, White Lightning!" Ariel commands, and the dragon blasts away the magician, dropping Katie's life points to 3500.

"Fine, I end by switching my Skilled White Magician to defense," Katie says, realizing that she had walked right into that move.

Ariel draws. "Hmm, I activate Full House," she says, and draws 6 cards. "Now, I activate White Dragon Ritual, and I'll discard this card from my hand..." she says, discarding a card. "To summon Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!" She says, and the dragon-riding knight appears. "Now, I sacrifice my Paladin to bring out another Blue-Eyes!" She continues, and the white dragon appears again. "Now, my first Blue-Eyes destroys your Dark Magician Girl!"

The Dragon blasts away the female magician, and Katie's life points drop to 2800.

"Your turn."

_Okay, I'm in trouble now, all I have is my Skilled White Magician, I can use his effect, but I was hoping to get Polymerization first,_ Katie thinks and draws. "I activate Fusion Sage," she says, and takes a Polymerization card out of her deck. "Now, I use my magician's special ability, to bring out the mighty Buster Blader (2600/2300 + 1500)!"

The magician vanishes, and the strong dragon-slaying warrior appears.

"Now, I activate Monster Reborn, welcome back Dark Magician," she continues, and the magician appears. "Now, I activate, Polymerization!"

"Oh no!" Ariel says, knowing what was happening.

"I summon, Dark Paladin (2900/2400 + 1500)!" She says, and the monsters form together to create a spellcaster in armor, wielding a large sword. "Now, Paladin, attack her Blue-Eyes!"

The warrior slashes at the Blue-Eyes, lowering Ariel's life points to 1300.

"This game isn't over yet," Ariel says.

"Oh but it is, activate De-Fusion!" Katie says, and Dark Paladin sepperates into Dark Magician and Buster Blader. "Now Buster Blader, attack her last dragon with Blade Buster Attack!"

The dragon-slayer charges, and slashes through the remaining Blue-Eyes, and Ariel's life points fall to 200.

"Now Dark Magician, direct attack!" Katie says, and the magician blasts away Ariel's remaining life points, and the holograms fade away.

**000**

A few minutes later, they all meet down by the station.

"I guess this is yours," Ariel says, handing Katie the piece of the Millenium Puzzle.

"Thank you," Katie says, taking the piece of the puzzle.

"My driver will give you a ride home, oh, and give my regards to the Pharoh," Ariel says walking off, leaving Katie to wonder what that meant.

**000**

Somewhere far away, a woman wearing a black cloak has watched the duel.

And smiles.

**000**

_**Dark Scorpion - Ari the Magical**_

_**Dark**_

_**Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**Level 4**_

_**1300/1800**_

_**This young thief was once an egyptian priestess until corruption in the government drove her to join the Dark Scorpions. When this monster does damage to the opponent's life points, add a magic or trap card that has an effect involving the Dark Scorpions to your hand.**_

_**Scorpion's Revenge**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of Gorg the Strong striking down an unseen foe. This card can only be activated when your opponent destroys a monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name, or is named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover". Summon another monster that fits the requirements from your hand or deck.**_

_**Dark Scorpion - Rose the Seductive**_

_**Dark**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**Level 3**_

_**500/2000**_

_**Rose was at one time the wife of a great King, until her husband was killed, she escaped, and later joined the Dark Scorpions seeking revenge. Once per turn, you can take controll of a male monster on your opponent's field, you have to skip your battle phase if you do so, the monster is returned to the opponent's side if this monster is destroyed.**_

_**Mana's Rage**_

_**Quick-play Spell Card**_

_**Image of a young sorceress, surrounded by magical energy. This card can only be activated when you have a "Dark Magician Girl" on your side of the field, and your opponent has taken controll of a "Dark Magician" from your side of the field. The Dark Magician is returned to your side, and the card that was used to controll it is negated and destroyed.**_

_**Full House**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a hand of playing cards. When this card is activated, draw until you have 6 cards in your hand.**_

_**(This card is courtasy of Cyber Commander, all credit goes to him.)**_

**000**

_**Well, chapter 1 has been finished.**_

_**Who is this mysterious woman? What is her intentions? How does Katie fit into them?**_

_**All will be revealed when I see fit.**_

_**Next chapter: Our heroes get an invitation to Industrial Illusion's latest tournament, a virtual tournament known as the Dueling Dimension. Don't miss, "Different Dimension Gate."**_


	2. Different Dimension Gate

_Well, I have one review, I guess its better than none._

_Anyway, its time to continue._

_Disclaimer: I only own the created carachters._

**000**

_**My dad told me a lot about his different duels.**_

_**Duelist Kingdom was interesting to say the least, but it wasn't much compared to Battle City or the Grand Championship.**_

_**But this tournament would make all three tournaments look normal.**_

_**But something sinister is here, I can feel it.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 2:**

**DIFFERENT DIMENSION GATE  
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**00000**

Its later that night, Katie is sitting at her desk, working on the puzzle.

"Lets see, if this goes here, then maybe..." she mutters, putting each piece together.

Oddly enough, she almost could swear she felt a hand guiding her, she finaly reaches the last piece, the very piecet that Ariel had given her earlier that day, the center piece.

"Wow, one more piece," she says, she begins to place the piece in, but stops, when something in her latest issue of _Dueling Today_ catches her eyes.

Its a picture of a young woman with dark auburn hair with a white streak in the bangs, wearing all black, except one thing, a locket around her neck with the same eye symbol thats on the piece she is holding.

"Marie Huebner - The Queen of Exodia," the caption reads.

While the mention of Exodia intreagues her, its the item around Marie's neck that catches Katie's attention. Her father had told her about all the Millenium Items, she had even seen pictures of them, but never before had she seen this one.

Could it be that there was more to the Millenium Legend than she, even more than her father knew?

She shrugs it off, and puts the last piece of the puzzle in.

The item glows, and Katie's shadow elongates.

"Yugi?" A deep voice says in her mind, making Katie look up in suprise.

"N-no, I'm Katie, Katie Motou," Katie says.

"Motou, Yugi has a daughter?" The voice asks.

"Who are you?" Katie asks.

"I was once the Pharoh Atem, but most people call me Yami," Yami says. "Pleased to meet you, Katie."

"Same, Yami," Katie says.

She puts the puzzle on her bedside table, and slips into bed, drifting off to sleep.

**000**

"Hello Katie," Yugi says as Katie comes downstairs, brushing her hair. "You got a package today."

Katie picks up the package and opens it, inside is a letter.

_Dear Miss. Motou,_

_Due to your recent defeat of Ariel Kaiba, the reigning world champion has prompted us to send you an invitation to our latest Duel Monsters Tournament, the Duelist Dimension._

_Here you will encounter dificult challenges, including a set of rules you may or may not be familiar with, the Deckmaster system._

_If you accept, call the number bellow._

_Sincerely,_

_Victoria Pegasus,_

_Industrial Illusions CEO_

_P.S. Please, I implore that you accept, we are being held against our will._

Katie looks nervously at what is written at the bottom.

"Well, I guess I have no choice," she says, and calls the number.

**000**

It turns out that her friends had gotten the same letter, but none of them got the postscript at the bottom, which makes Katie wonder even more.

After a few weeks, school ends, and the group finds themselves in a section of the main Industrial Illusions building, it is made up of virtual reality pods.

"Kaiba Corp. helped us develop the technology for this tournament," the technitian says. "Miss. Pegasus is already inside, waiting for the last of the competitors to arrive, thats you, but if you don't want to compete, you may back out now."

The 4 friends pause, but none of them take him up on the offer.

"Okay, each of you get into one of the pods, and you can get started."

The four friends each climb into seperate virtual reality pods, and are soon sucked into the virtual world.

"They have entered, Miss. Doppler," the techie says into a radio.

**000**

The 4 friends fall through a portal, and land on the ground, right on top of each other.

"Oww," says Renee, who is under the other three.

"Is everyone okay?" Katie says, getting up.

"Define okay, you'd think you would weigh less, Katie," Wendy says, brushing herself off.

"I'm going to let that slide," Katie says.

An image appears in front of them, its of a woman with long silver hair, and wearing a red dress.

"Hello duelists, my name is Victoria Pegasus, the current CEO of Industrial Illusions," the woman says. "The rules of this tournament are fairly simple. The tournament will be using the Deckmaster System, for the rules, consult your instruction manual. Duels will take place just about everywhere in this Virtual World. A part of the Tournament will show itself when the time is right, but you should be prepared for the worst. You will start with two Duelist Points, everytime you win a duel, you gain a Duelist Point, likewise when you lose a duel, you lose a Duelist Point. When you have 10 Duelist Points, you qualify for the finals. Happy dueling, and godspeed."

The image vanishes.

Duel Disks appear on each of their arms, surrounding the Life Point counters are 10 little lights, 2 of them are lit.

"Interesting," Darren says, and puts his deck into the slot.

"Well, I guess we should get going," Katie says, and the four friends walk off, unaware of a dark figure watching them.

**000**

_**Well, thats chapter two.**_

_**Before anyone asks, Victoria Pegasus isn't the villain here, the villain will come later.**_

_**Now, next chapter Wendy duels for the first time in the tournament, and takes on someone from her past, but who is it? Don't miss, "Legacy Hunter," coming soon.**_


	3. Legacy Hunter

_Well, its time for chapter 3, and a little, sibling rivalry._

_In Cyber Commander's fanfiction "Yu-Gi-Oh Junior: The Mandate of Heaven," one of my favorite chapters was the chapter Rivalry of Warlords, a duel between the Samurai Jade Valentine and the Ninja Naga, both duelists having decks reflecting on this._

_I think that it would be interesting to do my own little version of it, with my own twists and turns._

_Disclaimer: I only own the carachters._

**000**

_**If you don't know by now, my name is Wendy Wheeler, the daughter of Joey and Mai Wheeler, and the niece of Seto Kaiba.**_

_**With all these famous duelists related to me, you'd think I would be famous by now, but I perfer to be humble.**_

_**Ever since my 10th birthday I have trained to be a Samurai, while my sister, well, she's hated me for all the attention I am given by our parents, so she's studied the way of the Ninja, thieves, and criminals.**_

_**I didn't expect her to be here, but she is.**_

_**And I'm in for the toughest duel of my life.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 3:**

**LEGACY HUNTER**

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**00000**

Later in the day after they arrive at the Duelist Dimension, our heroes find themselves in what looks like a village from old China.

"I think we just stumbled into _The Good Earth_," Wendy says, her hand moving towards the sword at her belt, just in case.

"Did you actualy read that book?" Darren asks.

"Yeah, it was required reading," Wendy says, and the others shuffle their feet. "Don't tell me none of you read it."

"Oh come on, you have to admit it was boring!" Darren says.

"I almost fell asleep after chapter one," Renee says with a yawn.

"Umm, hehe," Katie says.

Luckily there is a distraction as a shuriken goes flying past Wendy's head.

"Okay, who threw that?" She demands.

A figure jumps down from a building. At the moment, all we can tell is that its a girl about the same age as our heroes, wearing a black ninja uniform.

"What the heck are you doing here?" Wendy demands of the ninja, recognizing her immediately.

"I thought you would be glad to see me, sis, but then again, you never where glad to see me," the ninja says.

She removes her cowl, letting her long black hair fall around her.

"SISTER?" Wendy's three friends shout, making some of the villagers look up.

"Yeah, this is my twin sister, younger by about 10 minutes, Miranda," Wendy says.

"Yeah, thats right, now I challenge you to a duel!" Miranda says.

"Fine, I accept," Wendy says, activating her duel disk. "I choose as my deckmaster, Flame Swordsman!"

The firey swordsman appears beside her.

"And I choose, Ghostfaced Ninja!" Miranda says, activating her duel disk.

A ninja in black armor, and without a face appears.

"LETS DUEL!" The twins say in unison.

"Hey Katie, what do you think we can expect out of Miranda?" Renee asks.

"If her deckmaster is any clue, I would have to say Ninjas," Katie says nervously.

"I will go first," Miranda says, and draws. "I summon, Ninja Commander Isuka (700/700)!"

A ninja warrior in a green jumpsuit with a sword slung across his back, and a crescent moon on his cowl appears.

"And now, I can special summon this monster, Ninja Soldier Katana (400/400)!"

The sound of a gong is heard, and Isuka turns into a blur, and re-appears as another ninja, this one dressed in blue, appears beside him.

"One card face down, and that will do it for me."

Wendy draws. "I summon Mataza the Zapper (1300/800), in attack mode!"

The ronin dressed in green armor appears with a swing of his sword.

"Now, attack with Zapping Blade attack!"

"Activate, Ninja Smoke Ball!" Miranda counters, and a burst of smoke envelops her side of the field.

"Fine, two cards face down, your move," Wendy says.

"This could be trouble," Katie says.

Miranda draws. "I sacrifice my two ninjas for the Ninja King (2600/1900)!"

A ninja in black armor appears.

"I activate my trap card, A Rival Appears!" Wendy says. "Now, I can summon a monster from my deck that is equal or less than the level of your monster, and I choose my strongest, Yamoto the Noble Samurai (2200/2000)!"

A samurai in golden armor appears.

"He's still not strong enough, Ninja King, attack her Samurai!" Miranda commands, and the Ninja charges.

"Activate trap card, Negate Attack!" Wendy counters, and the trap card negates the attack.

"Fine, your move," Miranda says.

Wendy draws. "Now I summon Sashia the Samurai Squire (1700/1500 + 300), in attack mode!"

A young female samurai carrying a bow and arrow appears.

"Now, I use my deckmaster ability twice, both times to raise my monster's attack to 2800."

Flame Swordsman's attack falls first to 1000 and then to 400, and the two Samurai's attack both rise to 2800.

"I'll give Mataza the Zapper an Axe of Dispair!"

A huge demonic axe appears in the ronnin's hands.

"Now Yamoto, attack her Ninja!"

The samurai charges at the Ninja, swinging his sword.

"Deckmaster ability activate!" Miranda says, and a coin is flipped, it lands on tails, so the attack goes through.

"Now my remaining two monsters will attack you directly!" Wendy says, and the two samurai charges at Miranda, and slash at her, causing her life points to drop to 0.

"Mark my words, I will have revenge!" Miranda says, and dissapears in a puff of smoke.

Wendy looks down at her duel disk, another light has turned on.

"Three down, seven to go," she says with a smile.

"Good duel," Darren says.

"Yeah," Renee says, Wendy smiles.

**000**

_Sashia, Yamoto, and the Ghostfaced Ninja are all creations of Cyber Commander._

_Ninja King, I'm not sure about._

**000**

_**Deckmasters:**_

_**Flame Swordsman: Risky Transfer-take attack points from this monster, and add them to a warrior on your side of the field.**_

_**Ghostfaced Ninja: Ninjitsu Art of Dissapearance-When your opponent attacks a monster with "Ninja" on your side of the field, flip a coin, if heads, the attack is negated.**_

**000**

_Wendy's Legends of Bushido Deck._

_Since her 10th birthday, Wendy Wheeler has been training hard as a Samurai warrior, no one is entirely sure how she got into this ancient art, or why, but she will reveal that as she wishes._

_Her deck reflects on her devotion to the Samurai, she has a lot of cards like Yamoto the Noble Samurai, Sashia the Samurai Squire, Mataza the Zapper, but her strongest monster is yet to be revealed, she also has some of the cards her father used, like Flame Swordsman and Red-Eyes Black Dragon._

_We can expect to see great things out of Wendy in the future._

**000**

_Miranda's Ninjitsu deck._

_Out of spite towards her sister, Miranda has trained as a Ninja, and her deck reflects on it._

_She has always been jealous of Wendy, and the attention she gets from their parents._

_How this will influence their future is unknown at the time._

**000**

_**Well, chapter 3 is done, and Wendy is on her way.**_

_**Next chapter, its Renee's turn to duel, and her Guardians are ready for a challenge, and they get one alright. Don't miss, "B.E.S Tetran."**_

_**And does anyone know what B.E.S stands for? Because I'm curious about that.**_


	4. BES Tetran

_Since the last chapter was sort of short, I decided to get this up quicker._

_This next chapter is dedicated to Season Two of GX, and has a character who uses a deck similar to one of the most unusual._

_This chapter might also have some spoilers for GX Season 2._

_I'm also taking a few liberties with the B.E.S monsters, to spice things up a bit, and make the duel longer._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**000**

_**I've heard about a lot of strange things coming from the Dueling World.**_

_**One of the most bizarre came out of the Kaiba Corp. Duel Academy, where a group that called themselves the Association of the Light started to gather power in the Academy.**_

_**One of the duelists that Sartorious, the leader of the Association, hired was a man named Lorenzo, a video game master who's deck reflected on his passion.**_

_**Namely, the B.E.S monsters.**_

_**Now me and my Guardians are facing the same type of deck.**_

_**I hope I can prevail, because these monsters almost beat the secound King of Games, Jaden Yuki.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 4:  
B.E.S TETRAN**

**0000000000**

**00000**

With the old village far behind them, our heroes stumble upon what seems to be an old abandoned factory.

"Should we check it out?" Katie asks.

"I doubt that we'll find any duelists, but its always worth a look," Darren says, and the 4 friends walk into the factory.

It has obviously been long abandoned, or at least been made to look that way, but they where wrong about one thing, there is a duelist here.

A young man with steel-gray hair, and wearing a black tank top and pants is standing in the middle of the factory.

"Its good to be here," he mutters, and then turns around and notices our heroes, his Duel Disk registers that he has 4 Duel Points already. "Well, more duelists, who wishes to duel me?"

"I will," Renee says abruptly.

"Alright, name's Darius, Darius Steel," Darius says, and activates his Duel Disk.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Renee Lords," Renee says, activating her Duel Disk as well. "I'll pick, Maha Valio as my deckmaster!"

The spellcaster appears by her side.

"In that case, I'll choose as my deckmaster a machine called Assault Core," Darius says, and a black machine with silver coverings appears beside him.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Renee says, and draws. "I set one monster in defense mode, and place one card face down to end my turn."

Darius draws. "I place one card face down as well, and summon Mechanicalchaser (1850/800), in attack mode!"

A spherical machine with several parts jutting out from it appears.

"Now attack her face down monster, Shock Prod attack!"

The machine charges, but bounces off a monster, Darius' life points fall to 3650.

"Always be weary of face down monsters, Darius, like this one, its a friend of mine called Back Up Gardna (0/2200)," Renee says, and a purple demon with red hair appears.

"Fine, I activate Stage Select, first you can shuffle your deck," Darius says, Renee shrugs and does so. "Now I can take any card out of my deck, and put it on top of my deck," he says, and does so. "I'll end my turn."

Renee draws. "I give Gardna an equip card, Rod of Silence-Kay'est, raising his defense by 500, but my deckmaster ability is now activated, and my demon gains an additional 500 attack, and now I summon Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in attack mode!"

A mermaid with light blue hair and a dark blue body with a skimpy outfit appears.

"And, I'll use my Gardna's special ability, and switch the Rod of Silence to my guardian."

The rod appears in the mermaid's hands, and her defense goes up to 2300 and her attack to 1500 while Gardna's attack falls back to 0.

"I'll place this card face down, and equip Back Up Gardna with Heart of Clear Water, not only raising its attack back to 500 thanks to my deckmaster ability, but now he can't be destroyed in battle, your move."

"Renee's playing like a pro, thanks to that deckmaster ability, she can not only summon her Guardians, they will also get even more powerfull," Katie says to the spectral form of Yami who is watching beside her.

"Yes, but that worries me, Guardians are tricky to play, but when they are, they can be some of the strongest monsters in the game," Yami says. "I should know."

"Oh yeah, you lost to Renee's father," Katie says.

"Wait, Renee's father is, Rafael, the guardian duelist who used to work for Dartz?" Yami asks.

"Yeah, ironic isn't it that she's one of my best friends," Katie says. "But what worries me is Darius' deck, its obvious that he uses machines, but his deckmaster suggests that he uses a special brand of machines called B.E.S."

"B.E.S? What do you know about those monsters, Katie?" Yami asks.

"Only that they're very hard to destroy, they have 3 turn counters, and they can only be destroyed in battle after they lose all 3 of them," Katie says. "I saw an old dueling video from the Duel Academy records, back when Jaden Yuki was in his secound year, he took on a B.E.S duelist named Lorenzo."

Meanwhile, back at the duel, its Darius' turn.

He draws. "I activate a trap card called Cyber Summon Blaster, so now every time I summon a Machine monster, you lose 300 life points."

A laser cannon straight out of one of the old _Godzilla _movies (japanese movies), appears behind him.

"Now, I activate the magic card, Boss Rush, normally I wouldn't be able to normal summon a monster because of this card, but let me explain how my deckmaster works. Assault Core has two special abilities, the first one makes it so all machine monsters on my field count as having 'B.E.S' in their name, and the second negates the negative effect of Boss Rush, allowing me to normal summon monsters anyway."

_Alright, it all depends on what he does next,_ Renee thinks.

"Now, I sacrifice my Mechanicalchaser to bring out Big Core (2300/1100)!" Darius says, and then the cannon blasts Renee, and her life points drop to 3700.

A huge armored starship appears, its guns at the ready.

"Now, I activate the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon on your Heart of Clear Water!"

"Not so fast, activate trap card, Judgment of Anubis!" Renee counters discarding a card, and the jackal god appears, and blasts away the Storm. "Now, I'll target your Big Core!"

The jackal god charges at the machine, and when the dust settles, the monster is still around, but there are only two glowing spots on its hull now.

"Instead of being destroyed, Big Core loses a turn token, and will only be destroyed once it loses all 3," Darius says.

"The B.E.S monsters, surprise, surprise," Wendy says. "Some of the most difficult machines in the game to beat."

Katie nods in agreement.

"Since I can't destroy either of your monsters, I'll end my turn," Darius says.

"Just out of curiosity, Darius, why do you have these cards? I mean they're strong, but they have some weaknesses," Renee asks of the machine duelist.

"Its sort of a long story," Darius says. "You see, when I was younger my parents worked in the space program, have you ever heard of the _Archangel_ Project?"

"Uhh, yeah, it was a manned mission to Saturn's moon Titan 10 years ago," Darren, says. "It blew up en-route, hit by an asteroid I think."

"That's the story that the government released, no one is actually sure what happened, but a video exists, it shows a strange spacecraft attacking the _Archangel_," Darius says. "Now I'm not really much of a conspiracy theorist, but I think that the American Government covered up evidence of whatever destroyed the _Archangel_. I spent a few years in an Orphanage, until I was adopted by a nice family, who introduced me to Duel Monsters, it was then I learned about the B.E.S machines, I duel using them in memory of my family, and to figure out what happened to them."

"Uhh, Katie, do you know what B.E.S stands for?" Wendy asks her shorter companion.

"Bacterion Elimination Squadron, I believe," Katie says.

**000**

Not too far away from where they are, the woman cloaked in shadow is watching.

_Little do they know that the answer behind the destruction of the _Archangel _is closer to them than they know,_ she thinks._ Mortals can be so foolish sometimes._

"Mistress Doppler, your special duelists are ready to go, but they are waiting for your orders," a man says, coming into the room.

"I'll be with them after this duel," Doppler says, leaning back in her chair.

**000**

"Now lets see, I give Back Up Gardna the equip card Butterfly Dagger - Elma," Renee says, and a dagger shaped like a butterfly appears in the demon's hands. "And so I can maintain my combo, I reveal the trap card Reverse Trap, so instead of gaining those 800 attack, my Guardna loses 800 attack, so my Heart of Clear Water remains on the field."

"Your friends are good," Yami comments to Katie.

"Renee was the National Champion of France before she moved to Dommino City," Katie says.

"Now, I can summon my favorite monster, Guardian Elma (1300/1200), in attack mode!" Renee says, and a beautiful red-haired woman in a butterfly-like vest, a short red skirt, and long white cloth flowing behind her, appears, it immediately obvious why Elma is Renee's favorite monster, other than the hair coloring and clothing, Renee is identical to the guardian. "Now I'll use Guardna's effect again, and switch the Butterfly Dagger to Elma, raising her attack by 800."

The demon throws the dagger into the air, and Elma does a flip before catching it, her attack goes up to 2100.

"And now, I play the magic card, Guardian Treasure, by discarding the rest of my hand, I can draw two cards, and draw two cards for the rest of the duel as long as this card remains in play."

She discards her remaining two cards which are revealed to be Rod of the Mind's Eye and Obedience, then she draws two cards.

"I'll place one card face down, and end my turn."

Darius draws. "I place one card face down, and activate Cost Down, I'll discard a card..." he says, and discards a card. "To downgrade the level of all my monsters, now I'll summon B.E.S Tetran!"

A bronze spaceship with long whip-like attachments appears. Renee gets blasted again, and her life points drop to 3400.

"And I'll use its effect, sacrificing one of its Turn Tokens to destroy your Butterfly Dagger."

The dagger shatters.

"Fine, but thanks to its ability, I get it right back, and I just needed it to summon Elma, so she's still on the field," Renee says, and takes the card out of her graveyard.

"Fine, Big Core attack Guardian Elma with Timed Blast!" Darius says, and the machine sends a blast of energy at the Guardian.

"Reveal trap card, Guardian Formation, this will negate your attack, and allow me to take an equip card out of my deck and activate it," Renee says, and Guardian Elma flips out of the way. "I'll choose my Gravity Axe-Grarl, and give it to Elma."

The axe appears in the fairy Guardian's hands, her attack goes up to 2300.

"Fine, I'll end my turn there," Darius says.

Renee draws two cards. "I play, Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two more cards. "Now, I give Elma two cards first Butterfly Dagger-Elma, so her attack raises to 3100, and then Wicked Breaking Flamebridge-Baou, raising her attack again to 4100."

The dagger and a large sword appears in Elma's hands.

"All I have to do is discard a card," Renee says, and does so.

"Now, I summon Guardian Baou (800/500), in attack mode!"

A demonic monster appears.

"And I summon Guardian Grarl (2500/1200), I can special summon since he's the last card in my hand."

A dinosaur warrior appears.

"Elma, attack B.E.S Tetran with Butterfly Dagger Stab!"

Elma does a flip, and stabs right into the machine, it explodes, and Darius's life points fall all the way to 1350.

"What? But it had two turn tokens left!" Darius says in shock.

"Wicked Breaking Flamebridge-Baou's effect, when a monster equiped with it battles a monster, the monster's effect is negated, so your monster was destroyed now. Grarl, attack Big Core with Gravity Axe Smash!" Renee commands, and the Guardian slashes through the machine, leaving it with one turn token, and lowering Darius' life points to 1150. "And I'll end my turn, don't try switching your monster to defense, Gravity Axe prevents your monsters from switching position."

Darius draws, and sighs. "I'll pass."

Renee draws. "You've been a good opponent, Darius."

"Thanks, I hope to see you again," Darius says.

"Elma, attack with Butterfly Dagger Stab!" Renee commands, and the fairy stabs the monster, and explodes, lowering Darius' life points to 0.

Renee's Duel Points go up to 3, while Darius' go down to 3.

"That was amazing," Wendy says.

"I wouldn't be suprised if we saw you again," Katie says, shaking Darius' hand.

"Thanks," Darius says. "I'll try to make it to the Finals."

The four friends wave good-bye to Darius, and leave the factory.

**000**

"Well, that was fun," the woman says, and leaves the room.

She emerges into a dinning room where 10 figures are sitting.

"I'm glad you could all make it," Doppler says to the 10 figures.

"It was our pleasure, Doppler," a man at the end of the table says.

"All I want to do is duel that punk Darren," another man says, and there is the sound of breaking glass.

"Makyura, calm down," Doppler says to the man.

"You should all shut up, this job is important," a woman says, leaning on a staff.

"Ruin, this doesn't concern you," Doppler says.

"This concerns all of us," a man with a deep voice says.

"Just prepare for your duties," Doppler says, and exits the room.

**000**

_Several of the cards used by Renee was used by Rafael during the Waking the Dragons series._

_Several of Darius' cards will be used in season two of Yu-Gi-Oh GX._

**000**

_**Renee's deck-Oath to Serve and Protect**_

_Renee's deck was inspired mostly by her father Rafael, who also used Guardians._

_No one is sure why she selected to still go with these difficult monsters, or why Katie Motou, the daughter of Rafael's former enemy trusts her._

_The Guardians where made to guard, not to be evil, or good, just to protect and serve what is held most sacred to the people._

**000**

_**Darius' Deck-Mechanical Revolution**_

_Darius is a strange character, while most machine duelists aren't exactly nice and polite, Darius duels with the honor of his parents._

_His trust in the B.E.S monsters is also unusual, but it makes him a powerful opponent._

_One can only hope that he will be more helpful in the future._

**000**

_**Well, that's chapter 4.**_

_**Just who is this Doppler person? And what does she have to do with the Archangel disaster?**_

_**More will be revealed later, for now, we will move on.**_

_**Next chapter: Darren is faced with another deck from GX's second season, one with an even stranger deck. Who is it you ask? Darren is asking the same "Question."**_


	5. Question

This chapter is going to be complicated, so bear with me.

And while last chapter the opponent's deck was based off of a carachter from GX, this time it is the carachter himself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

000

To train me in the game, my friend Katie dueled against me using just about every deck type imaginable, and it wasn't easy, but eventualy I managed to beat the majority of them.

She hit me with some pretty strange one's; Human Wave, Deck Destruction, Stall, even some sort of cat deck, just to name a few.

But the deck I'm facing now, its even crazier than most of the decks I had to face while I was training.

I don't know how Katie could've missed it.

00000

0000000000

CHAPTER 5:

QUESTION

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00000

On the way through the Duelist Dimension, Katie and her friends stumble on a circus of some sorts.

"Come one, come all, I have 4, count 'em, 4 rare and powerfull cards, but these cards can only be used by a special duelist, and lets see if there's one in this crowd," an emcee says at one of the booths. "I'm the Quiz King, and here's my decree: Whoever can tell me what card can counter the 3 instant win strategies, and can defeat me in a duel, gets all 4 of these rare cards."

Darren's attention is caught by what the cards are.

Temple of Kings, Cup of Sealed Soul, Seal of Serket, and Mystical Beast of Serket, those cards would be perfect for my deck! He thinks. _But what card can counter the instant win cards?_

He thinks. 

He watches as several duelists try their luck, but all fail.

Wait, thats it, failure! He thinks, and walks over to the Quiz King's booth. "I would like to guess."

"Very good," the King says. "What is your guess?"

"The only card able to counter Exodia, Final Countdown, and Destiny Board is the trap card Failure of Destiny!" Darren says, and the King smiles.

"Very good," he says, and comes out of his booth, he is a man with short black hair and glasses, wearing an outfit similar to the uniform from the Duel Academy, only its pure white. "My real name is Kanda Tsugio."

"Kanda Tsugio? You dueled Jaden Yuki once!" Katie says. "Your a former member of the Association of Light!"

"Why does everyone have to bring up my past mistakes?" Kanda says sweatdroping. "Yes, I used to be a member of the Association of Light, but since it broke up, I've changed my ways, still working on the wardrobe though. Anyway, Darren was it, if you want those cards, you'll still have to duel me for them!"

"Fine," Darren says, activating his Duel Disk. "I choose as my deckmaster, Gravekeeper's Chief!"

A tall man wearing a white outfit and a black headress with a black goatee appears beside him.

I hope he can help me, Darren thinks, and feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Do not worry, young Darren, me and my companions will help you to the very end," the Chief says, giving the duelist a slight nod.

"Thank you," Darren says. "Uhh, what's your deckmaster ability?"

"As long as I'm your deckmaster, the usual effects of Necrovalley remains on the field, but you are allowed to use the graveyard," the Chief says, and Darren nods.

"I will pick as my deckmaster, Nazora Panel 9," Kanda says, and a silver panel appears behind him. "Now, thanks to its effect, I can automaticaly activate a certain spell card from my deck, and it will remain in play."

He leafs through his deck, and takes out a card, slipping it into his m/t slot.

"I activate the Continuous Spell card known as Quiz Hour."

A huge game show board appears on his side of the field, a woman appears beside it, a podium appears before both Darren and Kanda. Kanda takes 3 cards out of his deck, and places them face down on the field in defense mode.

"That card, its supposed to be very rare, as are the cards that go with it," Katie says. "And then we have to keep in mind that Kanda did a fairly good job against jaden, got him down to 100 life points before losing."

"Wow, thats pretty good," Wendy says.

He thinks. He thinks, and walks over to the Quiz King's booth. "I would like to guess." Darren thinks, and feels a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'll go first," Darren says, looking nervously at the three face down monsters. "Now, I summon my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1500 + 500), in attack mode!"

A man in a black cowl appears, twirling a spear.

"Now attack his first face down monster, Spear Strike!"

The Gravekeeper tosses his spear, hitting the face down monster, which reveals itself as a white square.

"That was my Quiz Panel Obelisk 10, you have to answer this question correctly, or your monster will be destroyed and you will lose 500 life points," Kanda explains.

"Alright, what's the question?" Darren says nervously.

"To win this one, you have to name the three cards that must be on the field to activate the trap card Huge Revolution," Kanda says.

Oh no, those cards are so hard to use, almost no one knows what cards are needed! Katie thinks.

"Have faith," Yami says to her.

Oh man, I knew I should've paid attention to that time when Katie used those cards against me, Darren thinks. "I have no idea."

"Wrong answer," Kanda says, and three cards appear behind him. "The correct answers where United Resistance, People Running About, and Oppressed People, you lose!"

Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier explodes, and Darren's life points fall to 3500.

"That's okay, because you're going to lose even more life points than I just did," Darren says. "Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier has a trample effect."

"And my Panel has 0 defense points…" Kanda says. "THIS MEANS I LOSE 2000 LIFE POINTS!"

"Very good," Darren says, and Kanda's life points fall to 2000. "You see, I knew that was coming, I've seen old dueling videos from when Jaden Yuki went to the Academy, including the duel he had against you, so I knew how much defense your monsters have."

The white square does a flip, and fits itself onto the quiz panel.

"Smart move, but now I can take a certain monster out of my deck, and place it face down," Kanda says, and takes a monster out, and it appears on his field face down.

"One card face down, and I'll end my turn," Darren says.

Kanda draws. "I flip summon my face down monster, Quiz Panel Ra 10!" He says, and another white box appears, and fits itself onto the large panel. "Now, you have to say the names of the three Gagagigo monsters 3 times in ten seconds."

"Uhh, okay, Gagagigo, Giga Gagagigo, Gaiga… crap," Darren says, and his life points fall to 3000.

"They always get caught on that one, anyway, my monster is destroyed, and I can set another monster in my deck in its place," Kanda says, and takes a card out of his deck, and places it face down on the field.

"This guy is gambling with his cards even more than my father ever did," Wendy says.

"A Quiz Deck relies on more luck than your father's ever did, Wendy," Katie says. "You see, it relies completely on your opponent's knowledge of the game instead of the roll of a die or the spin of roulette."

Wendy nods.

"And we have to keep in mind that this deck almost beat Jaden Yuki, which makes it extremely dangerous," Renee says.

"Your move now," Kanda says to Darren.

Darren draws. "You may have almost beaten Jaden Yuki, but you won't get me down that far, I summon the Dark Scorpion member known as Irae the Annoying (400/600)!"

A petite girl with short blonde hair, and wearing a form-fitting leather outfit, wielding

"They come out with the strangest monsters these days," Wendy mutters.

"Yes, but there's more to this monster than it seems," Katie says, remembering seeing this card in her father's shop.

"Now Irae, direct attack!" Darren commands, and the girl does a flip, and slashes at Kanda, his life point's drop to 1600. "Not only can she attack you directly, she can attack once for every Dark Scorpion on the field, and she can't be destroyed in battle, of course she's the only one on the field, I'll just place one card face down, and end my turn."

Kanda draws. "I flip summon my monster, Quiz Panel Sliffer 10!" He says, and another white square appears, and fits onto the panel. "Now, you have to do 20 push-ups in 10 seconds."

"Well, it's a good thing that Darren always passes Gym class," Wendy says.

"Well, so do you," Katie points out.

"Good point," Wendy says.

Darren starts doing push-ups, and manages to finish with 2 seconds to spare.

"No!" Kanda says, and his life points fall to 1100.

"Well, is that all?" Darren asks.

"Yeah," Kanda says, and another monster appears face down.

Darren draws. "I summon the Dark Scorpion member known as Xain the Demolisher (1550/1200), in attack mode!"

A man with short black hair, wearing a torn leather outfit, carrying two grenades appears.

"Now Irae, attack him directly twice!"

Irae strikes Kanda twice with her dagger, dropping his life points to 300.

"Now Xain, attack his first face down monster with Scorpion Blast!"

Another white panel appears, and it fits onto the large panel.

"That was my Quiz Panel Sliffer 20, now you have to tell me what is the total number of the levels in both our graveyards," Kanda says.

"Unfortunately, math isn't his best subject," Wendy says.

"Uhh, lets see, if each panel is level 1, and Spear Soldier is level 4, the answer is 7," Darren says.

"Darren, you forgot to count the monster you just destroyed!" Katie shouts.

"Oh crap," Darren says.

"That's right, which means the answer is 8," Kanda says, and Xain explodes.

"Fine, but you activated his special ability, I'm afraid you just brought about your end, you see, when Xain the Destructive is destroyed as a result of a monster, magic, or trap card, he destroys all monsters on your side of the field, and then you lose 100 for each," Darren says.

"What? NO!" Kanda says, and three grenades are tossed at the 3 face down monsters, and Kanda's life points fall to 0. "Very good, you have won."

He walks over to his booth, and takes out the 4 cards, handing them to Darren. "You've earned them, good duel."

Darren takes the 4 cards, and places them in his deck.

"Thanks Kanda, I hope to see you again," he says, and his Duel Points go up to 3.

The four friends continue walking through the carnival.

000

Kanda's cards will be used by himself in season 2 of GX.

000

Dark Scorpion – Irae the Annoying

Dark

Warrior/Effect

400/600

A teenage girl who was found by the Dark Scorpions while they where in hiding, Irae can be annoying sometimes, but is a good member of the team, and is their expert on stealth. This monster can attack your opponent directly. This monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. This monster can attack once for every monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name, or is named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover" on your side of the field.

Dark Scorpion-Xain the Destructive

Dark

Warrior/Effect

1550/1200

The demolitions expert of the Dark Scorpions, Xain mainly blows up doors or vaults, but he can be used to ward off people following the gang. When this monster is destroyed as a result of the effect of a monster, magic, or trap card, destroy all your opponent's monsters, and they take 100 points of damage for each.

000

Darren's Deck-Power of the Ancient Tomb

Darren's deck is considered by many to be a blasphemy against the Gravekeepers because he has included the Dark Scorpions and other Dark Warriors in it.

But in reality, these two monster tribes have more similarities than they have differences, and can work together better than one thinks.

Darren also has two powerful monsters that he has yet to unveil.

000

Gravekeeper's Chief: Necromancy-As long as this monster is your deck master, Necrovalley is treated as being on the field, but its graveyard negating effect only effects the opponent's graveyard.

Nazora Panel 9-As long as this card is your deckmaster, the spell Quiz Hour is in play.

000

Well, that's done, and it was quite interesting.

Next chapter, we give our heroes a break, and go visit with Ariel Kaiba as she duels one of Doppler's special duelists, the dragon's greatest enemy, Buster Blader.

Don't miss, "Dragon Capture Jar."


	6. Dragon Capture Jar

_Okay, everyone knows that the worst enemy of any dragon duelist is the Buster Blader._

_And now as the secrets of the Duelist Dimension is being revealed more and more, it is time to test the skill of the daughter of a famous dragon master against the Dragon slayer himself._

_Say a prayer for Ariel, will you?_

**000**

_**My name is Ariel Kaiba, some call me the Dragon Princess, to some I am called Ria Ekillba, the undefeated champion of the pro league, but in reality I'm just your average teenage girl trying to make her way in a game.**_

_**My family is already famous in the dueling world: my father was a world champion before Yugi Motou entered the circuit, my uncle and aunt where both finalists in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City.**_

_**My deck is built to reflect on my family, in type and in cards.**_

_**And I can only hope that they are guiding me as I face this dragon slayer.**_

_**Heart of the cards, if your really out there, please show a girl some love.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 6:**

**DRAGON CAPTURE JAR**

**0000000000**

**00000**

The next day, Ariel is relaxing in a section of the Duelist Dimension that is designed to look like the English countryside, she lies in the grass, her trench coat lying off to the side, so the virtual sun is bearing down on her tanned skin.

"Its amazing, if I didn't know better, I'd say that this was real," she says with a sigh, suddenly a loud roar is heard from nearby. Ariel jumps up, grabs her Duel Disk (at 4 duel points) and trench coat, and runs off in the direction the roar came from.

She reaches a small clearing, where she sees a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, with her wings tied down, facing off against a small group of knights lead by a man in armor carrying a large sword.

The swordsman is about to deliver the final blow to the poor dragon, when the crack of a whip is heard, and his sword is thrown off to the side. Ariel runs up to the dragon, taking a Swiss army knife out of her pocket, she releases the dragon.

"Fair maiden, how dare thee stand before the Buster Blader and his prey?" The swordsman demands.

"And just what has she done to you, nothing probably, you just want another dragon slaying on your record, and a little extra to boost your ego," Ariel says.

"Your way too smart, lass," the Blader says, rubbing his wrist. "Your a duelist I see, and ye appear to be the legendary Ariel Kaiba, I have orders to duel thee!"

"Fine," Ariel says, Blue-Eyes places a claw on her shoulder.

"Ariel..." the dragon starts in a kind voice.

Suddenly, a weird sensation comes over Ariel. She looks down at her shoulder, and gasps as white scales begin to appear, and run down her arms. Her fingers join together, and form 3 claws on each hand. She grows taller, her neck elongates, and her face lengthens and becomes a snout as her teeth sharpens and becomes pointed. She groans lightly as her tailbone elongates to form a tail, and a pair of wings emerges from her shoulders. She grows a little bit larger, and her body changes to be more dragonic. Finally, her hair disappears, and white scales completely cover her body.

"What did you do to me?" Ariel demands.

"I'm a Spirit Eliminator, and when you duel a Spirit Eliminator the rules are different," Buster Blader, and a Duel Disk and deck appears on his wrist. "In this duel, we both start with 8000 life points instead of 4000, you don't really pick your deckmaster, its whatever your soul card is, and you will take the form of your soul card, in this case it is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and when you lose, you will be trapped here forever in that form, and I leave this world in your body."

"That's insane!" Ariel shouts.

"We're all a little insane, Kaiba, now you have to duel or forfeit," Buster Blader says, activating his duel disk.

"Fine," Ariel says, and activates her duel disk.

"LET'S DUEL!" They say in unison.

"_I tried to warn you, Ariel, but it was too late," _Blue-Eyes says in Ariel's mind.

"_It's okay, Blue-Eyes," _Ariel says.

"_Please, just call me Kisara,"_ the dragon replies.

"_Okay, anyway what does your deckmaster ability do?"_ Ariel asks.

"_I can give up some of my attack points in order to transfer them to one of your dragon monsters, but I can only do it until I have 100 attack left, so use them wisely,"_ Kisara replies.

"I'll go first," Ariel says, and draws. "I activate the spell card, the Dark Door, so we can only attack once per turn, now I'll set a monster in defense mode, and place one card face down to end my turn."

Buster Blader draws. "I summon the Hunter With 7 Weapons (1000/700), in attack mode!"

A bald man appears carrying a sword.

"I activate the trap Solemn Wishes!" Ariel says.

"Fine, for my hunter's effect, I declare dragon, now attack her face down monster, specialized sword attack!"

"Don't make an assumption before you see what you're up against," Ariel says, and the warrior slashes through a small fairy. "That was my Skelengel, and when he is flipped, I get to draw one card."

She draws one card, and looks at it as her life points go up to 8500.

_Seiyaru? Not very useful right now,_ Ariel thinks.

"Your move," Buster Blader says.

"Then stand back," Ariel says, and draws, her life points rising to 9000. "Now, I summon Melchid the Four-Faced Beast (1500/1200), in attack mode!"

A four-faced fiend appears in attack mode.

"And now I activate Monster Reborn, to revive my Skelengel."

The fairy appears again.

"But they aren't going to stay around for long, you see, the monster I hold in my hand isn't a dragon, but he's strong enough to defeat even the Blue-Eyes, and he must be special summoned by sacrificing two monsters, one of them has to either be Melchid or Grand Tiki Elder…"

"Are you going to talk about it, or summon it?" Buster Blader asks.

"You'll wish that I had waited when you see it, but anyway I sacrifice them to bring out…" Ariel says, and the two monsters vanish into bursts of red light. "To summon the feared predator of the underworld known as **_The Masked Beast Des Gardius_** (3300/2500)!"

A tall and muscular, with fur and savage claws. Bony protrusions sprouted from its joints and over its chest. From its head grew two thick blunt horns, hanging down, and on its face and each of the horns was a frightening blue mask appears before Ariel, howling in pure bloodlust.

"Probably regretting your decision now, Des Gardius, attack with Bloodlust Slash!" Ariel commands and the fiend bears down on the warrior, cutting right through it, Buster Blader's life points fall to 5700.

"No one has ever dared to attack me like that," the swordsman growls in anger._ This girl's got spunk, I like that, _he thinks.

"Well apparently you've never faced a Kaiba before," Ariel says. "I'll end my turn with a face down card."

Buster Blader draws. "Two cards face down, and I summon Hayabusa Knight (1000/700), in attack mode!"

A Warrior in shining armor appeared, holding a rapier. His head was like that of a hawk.

"And I'll give him the equip card, Attacking behind Enemy Lines, this card lets the equipped monster attack the opponent directly, and my knight can attack twice, so attack her directly twice Hayabusa, Peregrine Sword Attack!"

The bird knight slashes twice at Ariel, whose life points fall to 7000.

"Your move," the swords master says.

Ariel draws. "I summon the Dark Scorpion member known as Avannah the Devious (1200/1000), in attack mode!"

A woman in a black cloak wielding two Egyptian swords appears.

"Now, I activate the field card, Scorpion Den!"

After slight difficulty opening the field slot with her claws, Ariel puts the field card into the slot, and a cavern appears around them with piles of gold.

"Where are we?" Buster Blader demands.

"The home of the Dark Scorpion gang, here they gain 500 attack and defense points, and there's only one rule that all intruders must follow, you won't get out without paying, with your life," Ariel says with a smirk. "You know this dragon thing isn't bad."

"Get used to it, because if you're not careful, it will be your permanent form," Buster Blader says.

For once in her life, Ariel seems to doubt herself.

"_Don't listen to him, Ariel, he's just messing with your mind,"_ Kisara says.

"_I don't know, it seems that ever since I lost to Katie, I've lost confidence in my dueling abilities,"_ Ariel thinks with a sigh.

"_Girl, that's no way to talk about yourself,"_ a woman's voice says in her head.

"_Aunt Mai?"_ Ariel replies.

"_That's right, hon, don't go putting yourself down just because you lost one duel, after all, you have cards in your deck that shows that your family is behind you 100 percent,"_ Mai's voice says.

"_Yeah,"_ Ariel replies, remembering the cards she had added to her deck out of respect for her family: Guardian Angel Joan, Gilford the Lightning, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Cyber Harpy Lady.

"_That's right, and with our support, you can't lose, I may not like the fact that you're a Kaiba, but you're an honorable duelist, and I respect that,"_ Joey's voice says. _"Just remember, trust in your deck, and you'll be fine."_

"_Thanks,"_ Ariel says, and looks over her hand. "Des Gardius, attack his knight!"

The masked fiend charges at the bird knight.

"Activate trap card, Greed is Good, this negates your attack, and allows me to draw a card for each star your monster has, allowing me to draw 8 cards," Buster Blader says, and does so.

"Fine, one card face down, and I end my turn," Ariel says.

Buster Blader draws. "I activate Final Destiny, by discarding 5 cards from my hand…"

"Yeah, I know, it destroys all cards on the field," Ariel says.

Buster Blader growls, and discards 5 cards, and then all cards on the field explode in a huge release of energy.

"Fine, but you activated my two trap cards, Statue of the Wicked, so I get two wicked tokens (1000/1000), both in defense mode!" Ariel says, and the two golden statues appears.

"I'll just set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Buster Blader says.

Ariel draws. "I activate the ritual card, White Dragon Ritual, by sacrificing my Des Feral Imp; I can summon forth my Paladin of White Dragon!"

A warrior riding a white dragon appears.

"Now, I'll have him attack your face down monster, Ionic Spear Burst!" She commands, and the dragon sends a blast of energy, destroying a Man-Eater Bug. "And unfortunately for you, Paladin's ability negates any of your monster's special effects, I'll set one card face down, and use Paladin's other ability to summon forth one of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons!"

The white dragon appears with a roar.

"And I sacrifice my two wicked tokens to bring forth my second!"

Another dragon appears.

"Your move."

Buster Blader draws. "I summon Skilled White Magician (1700/1900), in attack mode!"

A white robed spellcaster appears.

"Why did you do that?" Ariel asks.

"Because I have 3 spell cards in my hand, first I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master, and I gain 1000 life points," Buster Blader replies, and his life points raise to 6700, Skilled White Magician's staff glows bronze. "Next, I activate Meteor of Destruction, so you lose 1000 life points," he continues, and Ariel's life points fall to 6500, and Skilled White Magician's Staff glows silver. "And, I activate the spell card, Emblem of Dragon Destroyer, so I can add a certain monster to my hand," he says, and takes a card out of his deck, and adds it to his hand, the magician's staff glows gold. "Now, I sacrifice my magician for its effect, and summon from my hand, myself, Buster Blader (2600/2300 + 1500)!"

A huge swordsman appears, it is indeed the same monster that Ariel is facing.

_Oh man, this isn't good, thankfully I have my face down card,_ Ariel thinks.

"Now attack her first dragon with Blade Buster attack!" Buster Blader says, and the monster charges at the Blue-Eyes.

"Activate trap card, Safecracker, by discarding one trap from my hand, I can use one from your graveyard," Ariel says, and discards a card she shows as a Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell. "And I choose, Greed is Good, so your attack is negated, and I draw 7 cards."

She does so.

"Any other moves you'd like to make?"

"No, your move," Buster Blader says.

Ariel draws. "I summon, the Dark Scorpion member Rose the Seductive (500/2000), in defense mode, and I will use her effect, taking controll of your monster as long as I skip my battle phase!"

The thief appears, and floats over to the Buster Blader's monster, and whispers something in his ear, and the warrior floats over to Ariel's side.

"One card face down, your move," Ariel says.

Buster Blader draws.

"Hold it, I activate the trap card known as Reckless Guess, now I can guess what kind of card you just drew, and if I guess right, you discard your entire hand, but if I guess wrong you draw an extra card, and I guess that you drew a monster card!"

Buster Blader growls, and shows his Mataza the Zapper. "Your move, Kaiba."

Ariel draws. "I sacrifice Rose and your warrior to summon forth, my third Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The dragon appears again.

"Now, they will attack you directly and finish you off, White Lightning!"

The three dragons blast away the rest of the swordsman's life points, and the Buster Blader explodes in a burst of pixles. Ariel returns to normal.

"How ironic, a master dragonslayer done in by his prey," Ariel says with a smirk.

"Yes, very," a voice from behind her says. Ariel turns to see a girl with long light blue hair, and wearing a brown peasant's outfit.

"Who are you?" Ariel asks, and then it hits her. "Your Kisara, the girl who's soul held the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"Yes, I was being held captive by a woman named Doppler here, and your coragious act has set me free," Kisara says. "Thank you, Ariel."

"Your welcome," Ariel says. "You can come with me if you want, it gets kinda lonely on the road alone."

Kisara smiles. "Sure."

The two walk further into the Duelist Dimension.

**000**

_Des Gardias was used by either Lumis or Umbra (I can never tell who is who) against Yugi and Kaiba._

_Safecraker and Scorpion Den was created by Cyber Commander._

**000**

_**Attacking Behind Enemy Lines**_

_**Equip Spell**_

_**Image of a Marauding Captain attacking a small camp. A warrior-type monster that has less than 1500 attack points that is equiped with this card can attack the opponent directly.**_

_**Dark Scorpion - Avannah the Devious**_

_**Level 4**_

_**1200/1000**_

_**Dark**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**This monster is rumored to be the twin sister of Don Zaloog, she is a lone wolf thief who helps the gang whenever she can. When this monster damages your opponent's life points, activate one of the following effects:**_

_**-Special summon a monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name or is named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover" from your graveyard after the damage step.**_

_**-Add half the total damage done to the attack of a monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name, or is named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover."**_

_**Greed is Good**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of the Goblin of Greed laughing at a group of terrified young goblins. This card can only be activated when the opponent attacks. Negate the attack, and draw cards from your deck equal to the level of the monster who was attacking.**_

_**Reckless Guess**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of Ha Des looking down at a peasant. When the opponent draws, guess whether the card is a monster, magic, or trap card, if you guess right, the opponent discards it and the rest of their hand, if you guess wrong, the opponent gets an extra draw.**_

**000**

_**Deckmasters-**_

_**Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Life to Dragons): Remove attack from this monster in incriments of 100 and add them to any dragon type monster on your side of the field.**_

_**Buster Blader (Dragonslayers): When one of your monsters battles a dragon, the monster gains 500 attack.**_

**000**

_**Ariel's Divine Trinity Deck**_

_Ariel's deck is of an emerging type called Divine, which combines different and seemingly unrelated cards together to make a strong deck, another prime example of this deck type is Yugi Motou's deck._

_Ariel's deck types represent her family and what they mean to her, her deck revolves around 3 major types:_

_Dragons: Ariel has several of the cards that her father used at one time, including the Blue-Eyes White Dragons and other's. She uses these cards to represent her father._

_Warriors: The warrior monsters in her deck are many, but mostly include the Dark Scorpions and ways to bring them out faster, but she has a few tricks up her sleeve. She uses these cards to represent her uncle._

_Fairies: Ariel has several fairy monsters in her deck, which she uses to represent her mother._

_Ariel also has a few extra cards like some harpies and fiends._

_The complication and skill of her deck will be helpful for the future._

**000**

_**Well, we've learned about the Spirit Eliminators, and Ariel Kaiba.**_

_**Next chapter, Katie duels a duelist that uses a Monarch deck. Can she win against these powerfull beasts? Find out in, "Convulsion of Nature."**_

_**Read and Review.**_


	7. Convulsion of Nature

_Alright, lets move on, and see how Katie can fare against the power of the Monarchs._

_Disclaimer: I only own the carachters._

**000**

_**In Duel Monsters, there is a great number of underused cards, usualy because they have no effects and are too high of level and too low of attack to be of any use, like Bolt Escargot.**_

_**Or if they have effects that are debhilitating to the player like the Unfriendly Amazon.**_

_**The last category is cards that are underused because no one really thinks they're any good.**_

_**Apparently my current opponent thinks otherwise.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 7:**

**CONVULSION OF NATURE**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Around the same time that Ariel is dueling the Buster Blader, Katie and her friends are arriving at another section of the medival sector of the Duelist Dimension. Its a small village, with a castle looming over it. Looking around, they overhear three duelists talking.

"Yeah, some mysterious girl at the bridge took my Gilford the Lightning," one of the duelists says.

"She did the same with my Ninja King," the secound says.

"And my Gearfried the Swordsmaster," the third finishes.

_Hmm, a duelist that targets warrior monsters, she must use the Ante rule, in order for her opponents to give up their cards, _Wendy thinks. "This might be worth looking into."

"Maybe we should try that castle up there, it might yield some answers," Wendy suggests.

The 4 friends head up the hill towards the castle.

**000**

"So, looks like those 4 fools have caught wind of the little problem I've been having, maybe I can use this to my advantage," Doppler says in her dark castle. She motions, and a screen turns on, showing the image of a man dressed in red robes, and wearing a golden crown with a ruby, saphire, diamond, and topaz encrested in it.

"What is your bidding, Mistress Doppler," the man says.

"A few duelists are headed your way, I want you to test them, and if one of them wins, inform them of the little situation we have in the mountains," Doppler says.

"It will be done, my mistress," the man says, bowing to Doppler.

"Very good, Lord Tucker, Doppler out," Doppler says, and the screen shuts off. _This might be entertaining,_ she thinks to herself.

**000**

Katie and her friends reach the doors of the castle, the doors open for them, and sitting on a throne on the other end of the hall is the same man we saw before.

"Welcome young duelists, I am Lord Tucker, the Magistrate of this village, I am glad you could join us," Tucker says. "Would one of you mind treating me to a duel? If you win, I will provide you with food and drink for the night."

"Sure, I'll accept your challenge," Katie says, activating her Duel Disk, Lord Tucker does the same.

"I choose as my deckmaster, Loyalist Forces!" Tucker says, and a group of soldiers in armor appears by him.

"And I'll choose, hmm," Katie says, looking over her deck, she takes a card out. "I choose, White Magician Pikeru!"

The cute female spellcaster appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Katie says, and draws. "I place one card face down, and summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!"

The lesser version of the Dark Magician appears.

"Your move."

Tucker draws. "I place one card face down as well, and summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500), in attack mode to end my turn."

The infernal footsoldier appears.

Katie draws. "Hmm, I first summon Mystical Elf (800/2000), in defense mode, and then I activate the spell card Tribute Doll, by sacrificing my Elf, I can summon my first Dark Magician from my hand!"

An even darker version of the spellcaster appears, with white hair and a red outfit appears twirling his staff (picture Arkana's Dark Magician). The tip of Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows bronze.

"Since I can't attack with it, I end my turn with a face down," Katie finishes.

Tucker draws. "I sacrifice my Soldier to summon Kerin, the Storm Monarch (2400/1000 + 500/500)!"

A huge wind picks up, and a huge monster appears with green and silver armor. A huge wind blows, and Dark Magician shields himself with his staff as he is blown away, the card fits into the bottom of Katie's deck, as is her face down Mirror Gate.

"Alright, two questions, first, how did that monster gain 500 more attack?" Darren asks.

"My deckmaster's ability powers up all monsters with "Monarch" in their name by 500 attack and defense points," Tucker explains.

"Oh, and what happened to Katie's Dark Magician and her face down card?" Darren asks.

"Simple, when Kerin is summoned, I can automaticaly send two cards on the field to the bottom of the controller's deck, we won't be seeing that Dark Magician anytime soon," Tucker explains. "Now Kerin, attack her Skilled Dark Magician with Sword of Storms attack!"

The monarch draws a sword, and slashes through the spellcaster, destroying it, Katie's life points fall to 3000.

"Activate trap card, Magician's Soul, by discarding one card from my hand, I can bring back the spellcaster you just destroyed, complete with its spell counter!" Katie counters, and discards a card, Skilled Dark Magician appears again with its scepter glowing bronze.

"Your move then," Tucker says with a growl.

Katie draws. "I will now activate my deckmaster's ability, by discarding a monster from my hand, I can gain life points equal to its level times 100, so I'll discard my level 4 Neo the Magic Swordsman, to gain 400 life points," she says, and her life points go up to 3400. "Now I activate Pot of Greed."

She draws 2 cards, and looks them over, Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows silver.

_Huh? Its one of those cards that I got after winning the Big Apple Tournament last year in New York, and I have the other card I need in my hand, maybe this can help me, _she thinks. "Alright Tucker, time to meet one of my newest monsters, I activate this card, a little thing called Dark Destiny Ritual, to use this card I must sacrifice monsters equal to level 8, so I'll sacrifice my Magician of Faith and my second Dark Magician, to summon this monster, the mighty **_Sorceress of Fate _**(2700/2400)!"

The monster that appears is a woman with long wihte hair, wearing a long black dress, and carrying a staff made of pure gold.

"Impressive, but she's not as strong as my Monarch," Tucker points out.

"Lets see what we can do about that, because I'm activating her effect now," Katie says, and two dice appear in front of her, one red and one blue. "Her effect works sort of like Gracefull Dice and Skull Dice, but the attack increased or decreased is times 200, and if the blue die rolls a 5 or a 6, I am permitted to summon either a high level or low level spellcaster from my deck."

The red die rolls, and lands on a 3, Kerin's attack goes down to 2300. The second die rolls, and lands on a 6.

"Wow, I guess I got lucky, I special summon my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700 + 300) from my deck!"

She takes a card out, and the cute apprentace of the Dark Magician appears with a twirl of her wand.

"I never get tired of seeing that card," Darren comments.

"Men," Renee mutters.

"Now Sorceress of Fate, attack his monster with Spell of Destiny attack!" Katie commands, and the sorceress blasts away the lord of wind, dropping Tucker's life points to 3600.

"Activate trap card, Revenge of the Monarchs, when you destroy one of my Monarch monsters, I am permitted to summon another from my deck, and his effect is automaticaly activated, and I choose, Zaborg, the Thunder Monarch (2400/1000 + 500/500)!" Tucker says, and a monarch with green armor appears. "And now, your Sorceress is destroyed because of his special ability!"

Lightning strikes the female spellcaster, she screams as she is destroyed.

"Oh no, that was her only chance!" Wendy says worriedly.

"Have faith people," Renee says.

"Now Zaborg, attack Dark Magician Girl with Imperial Thunderbolt!" Tucker commands, and the monarch raises his arms, and gathers electrical energy, and blasts away the female magician, Katie's life points fall to 2800. "Your move, princess."

Katie draws. "I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Tucker draws. "I summon Chithonian Soldier (1200/1400) in attack mode!" He says, and a demonic looking footsoldier appears. "Now soldier, attack her face down monster!"

The monster is revealed as a short female magician in purple robes, who is destroyed.

"Thanks, that was my Apprentice Magician, now I'm allowed to take a level 2 or lower spellcaster from my deck, and set it in defense mode!"

She takes a card out of her deck, and it appears face down on the field.

"Fine, Zaborg attack it!" Tucker commands, and the monarch attacks the face down monster, which is revealed as another Apprentice Magician. A second face down card replaces it. "Your move."

Katie draws. "I flip summon my face down monster, Old Vindictive Magician, which will destroy your Monarch!"

The old spellcaster appears, and destroys Zaborg.

"Now, I sacrifice him to bring out my Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!"

A spellcaster appears that looks sort of like the Dark Magician, but has green robes instead of purple.

"Now attack with chaos scepter blast!"

The spellcaster blasts away the soldier, and Tucker's life points fall to 2400.

"Yeah, she's taken the lead!" Darren says.

"No, she's taken the bait," Tucker says with a chuckle as a sword appears, and runs through Katie's body. "When Chithonian soldier is destroyed, the opponent takes the same amount of damage I did," he explains as Katie's life points fall to 1600.

"Well, at least I have a challenge," Katie says, getting up. "One card face down, your turn."

Tucker draws. "I play Monster Reborn, and revive Zaborg, but he's not staying long, I sacrifice him to bring out the strongest of the Elemental Monarchs, Nergal the Night Monarch (3300/1600 + 500/500)!"

A figure shrowded in shadows appears.

"Its a good thing you can't see him, they say that anyone who looks him in the face automaticaly dies of fright," Tucker says with a chuckle. "Now Nergal, destroy her Chaos Comand Magician!"

The figure sends a blast of dark energy, and whipes out the magician, lowering Katie's life points to 200.

"Oh man, Katie's in deep trouble!" Renee says.

"Thats the understatement of the century, since Nergal is resistent to any card effects that would destroy him, the trouble's not just deep, its subterranian," Wendy says. "Lets just hope that Katie has some tricks up her sleeve."

Katie draws. "I activate my Pot of Charity, by removing Chaos Command Magician from the game, I can draw 3 cards," she says, and the golden pot appears, she draws 3 cards. "Alright, I activate Monster Reborn, and revive my Dark Magician!"

The purple robed Dark Magician appears.

"Now, I activate Dedication through Light and Darkness, by sacrificing my Dark Magician, I can bring out my Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The spellcaster vanishes, and is replaced by a darker mage carrying a purple and black staff.

"And thanks to his effect, I get back a spell card, Monster Reborn will do, which I will play to take back my Dark Magician!"

The Dark Magician appears again.

"Now I set one card face down, and give my Dark Magician of Chaos the equip card Magic Formula, raising his attack to a total of 3300, and that will end my turn."

Tucker draws. "Nergal, attack her Dark Magician!"

The dark monarch sends a blast of energy, but stops short, ensnared in a magical circle.

"I activated my trap card, Spellbinding Circle, which not only stops your monster from attacking, but also lowers his attack to 3100, anything else you would like to do?"

"One card face down, your move," Tucker says with a growl.

Katie draws. "I play Harpie's Feather Duster, which will destroy your magic and trap cards!" She says, and a wind blows away Tucker's magic and trap cards, which includes a Mirror Force. "Now Dark magician of Chaos, destroy his Nergal!"

The sorceror spins his staff, and blasts away the dark monarch, dropping Tucker's life points to 2200.

"Now Dark Magician, finish him off, Dark Magic Attack!"

The spellcaster blasts away the rest of Tucker's life points. Katie's Duel Points go up to 3.

"Very good, you might be the one, come with me please," Tucker says, and walks away, the 4 friends shrug and follow.

**000**

They enter a huge valt, Tucker walks over to one wall, and presses his hand on a pad, and a block comes out of the wall.

"I was commanded to give this card to a duelist who has proven him or herself worthy of owning it, I believe that duelist is you," he says, and hands Katie a card.

_Saint Goddess of the Gale?_ Katie says to Yami.

_Its a God Card, but none that I've ever seen,_ Yami says, and Katie puts it away in her binder.

"Now, please come with me, you will stay here tonight if you wish," Tucker says.

"Do you know anything about a strange girl in the mountains?" Renee asks him.

"Yes, I believe she's supposed to be a tournament competitor, a very tough duelist, she's also defeated most of my knights in combat, taking their swords as a prize, I think she's won about 96 times, 99 counting those duelists," Tucker says as they leave.

_Hmm, sounds interesting,_ Renee thinks.

**000**

_Nergal the Night Monarch was created by Cyber Commander._

_Credit for Pot of Charity goes to King Dragun._

**000**

_**Loyalist Forces**_

_**Dark**_

_**1000/200**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**These soldiers will be forever loyal to their king, even to the death. When the opponent uses the trap card "Huge Revolution" discard this card to negate it.**_

_**Kerin the Storm Monarch**_

_**Wind**_

_**2400/1000**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**One of the Elemental Monarchs, Kerin controlls the winds. When this monster is successfully tribute summoned, return two cards on the field to the bottom of the owner's deck.**_

_**Magician's Soul**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of a ghostly Dark Magician rising from a grave. Activate this card when a spellcaster is destroyed, discard one card from your hand to revive the monster with any spell counters it had.**_

_**Dark Destiny Ritual**_

_**Ritual Spell**_

_**Image of 3 spellcasters crossing their wands. Sacrifice monsters with level stars equal to 8 or more to summon "Sorceress of Fate" from your hand.**_

_**Sorceress of Fate**_

_**Dark**_

_**2700/2400**_

_**Ritual/Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**This sorceress rules over fate and destiny, few can defeat her in a game of chance. On each of your turns, both players roll a die, the result of the opponent's role is subtracted from their monster's attack x200. The result of your roll is added to your monster's attack x200, unless it is a 5 or a 6. If it is a 5, special summon a level 4 or lower spellcaster from your deck. If it is a 6, special summon a level 5 or higher spellcaster from your deck.**_

_**Revenge of the Monarchs**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of 6 giants powering up. When the opponent destroys a monster with "Monarch" in its name as a result of battle, summon a monster with "Monarch" in its name from your deck, and activate its effect immediately.**_

**000**

_**White Magician Pikeru: Healing-**Discard one monster from your hand, and gain life points equal to its level x100, this can only be done once per turn._

_**Loyalist Forces: Loyalty to the Monarchy-**All monsters with "Monarch" in their name gains 500 attack and defense points._

**000**

_**Katie's Deck-Dark Sorcery**_

_While Yugi Motou's signature monster might've been the Dark Magician, he had several other cards in his deck unrelated to this legendary spellcaster, that isn't the case for his daughter Katie._

_Katie's deck is comprised mostly of spellcasters and cards that can help them along during a duel. She enjoys using the Dark Magician the most, and is well on her way to becomming the Queen of Games._

_However, somethings still stand in her way, we can only hope that she can overcome these obsticles._

**000**

_**Well, Katie has dueled for the first time in the tournament, and it was a bit better than the other chapters, sorry about that.**_

_**Next chapter, you've heard her mentioned, and if your a fan of my other stories, you're already familiar with this carachter.**_

_**Watch as Wendy takes on the most feared force in Duel Monsters, in a scenario similar to one from Japanese lore, in "Armed Samurai Ben Kai."**_

_**Don't miss it, its gonna be great.**_


	8. Armed Samurai Ben Kai

_Alright, I've been planning this chapter for weeks, I better not mess it up now._

_  
Fans of my other fanfictions will recognize Wendy's opponent._

_There will be a few spoilers for Season 2 of GX._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or X-Men Evolution (read to find out)._

**000**

_**Ever since I started playing Duel Monsters, I've faced some pretty tough and/or strange opponents.**_

_**There was one guy, seemed to me like he was a coward, kept playing monsters in defense mode, and drawing cards, it was almost too late before I caught on to his strategy, Exodia.**_

_**Now Exodia duelists are pretty easy to figure out, since the mostly play a defensive game, and draw cards.**_

_**The keyword there is mostly, as I'm about to see in my next opponent who is well known for using Exodia.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 8:**

**ARMED SAMURAI BEN KAI**

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**00000**

Katie and her friends leave the village the next morning, and head in the direction of the mountains to the north of the village.

"Why are we doing this again?" Darren asks after an hour of climbing.

"You know what happens when Wendy gets an idea in her head, she does it, and drags us along no matter how much we complain," Katie says. "Wendy, how much farther do we have to walk?"

"Not much further, the river should be just up here," Wendy says.

"Whats this sudden interest in this situation anyway?" Renee asks, stopping to take a rest for a moment.

"Have you ever heard of Tyranno Kenzan?" Wendy asks.

"Uhh, yeah, he was a friend of Jaden Yuki's during his secound year, dinosaur duelist I believe," Darren says.

"Well, there's an old japanese legend, involving the samurai Benkei, the legend goes that he had positioned himself at the Gojo bridge in Kyoto, where he deprived every swordholder that passed of his weapon, after gaining 999 swords, he encountered Minamoto Yoshitsune, who they say posessed a legendary sword given to him by a Tengu," Wendy says. "A similar thing happened between Jaden and Kenzan, reporditaly, Kenzan had taken 99 duel disks from duelists when he encountered Jaden, and thats basicaly how they became friends... ahh, we're here."

The friends emerge on what appears to be an idyllic meadow with a river running through it, and a bridge crossing over it.

"Looks nice enough," Wendy says, and starts to step onto the bridge, and then a puff of smoke appears out of nowhere.

From the smoke emerges a petite girl (just a couple of inches taller then Katie, who is the shortest of the group), with long dark auburn hair pulled into a ponytail with white bangs, she's wearing a black trench coat, tank top, and skirt, a golden locket with the Millenium Symbol stands out on her chest.

_A Millenium Item!_ Katie thinks.

"Thats right," the girl says in a southern accent. "This is called the Millenium Locket, it was made from the remains of all 7 of the Millenium Items, giving the barer the powers of most of them," she says, and suddenly the locket points towards Katie, she looks over at her, and grins. _So, the Pharoh has a new hikari, what do you think, Mira?_

A transparent figure next to her nods.

"Sorry for being so rude, I'm Marie Huebner," Marie says, bowing slightly. "And you must be Wendy Wheeler, the daughter of the famous Joey Wheeler," she says, looking at Wendy, and activating her Duel Disk. "I challenge you to a duel, and when you duel me, you have to ante up your rarest warrior, but if your able to beat me, the rewards will be great, a rare card for you, and each of your companions."

"Fine," Wendy says, and activates her duel disk as well.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Marie says, and draws. "I activate the spell card Infinate Cards, now there are no limits to how many cards we can have in our hand. I'll place two cards face down, and end my turn."

_Whats her game? She didn't summon anything, just played magic and trap cards,_ Wendy thinks as she draws. "I summon Usagi Warrior (1500/1200)!"

A strong-looking hare carrying a sword appears.

"Now, direct attack!"

"Reveal trap card," Marie says simply, and one of her traps flips up, it has the image of a dark shape rising from the ground. "A trap known as, The Reality Bug. This trap is one of a kind, in effect, and in card, it is a trap and a monster, a trap monster that when played, takes on the form of the monster that you fear the most!"

A black mist emerges from the card, and wraps around Wendy, and then starts to take form on Marie's field, it becomes a huge demon with green wings and long green claws, who cackles evily.

"Ahh, the Mazera DeVille (2800/2300), an interesting fear, but lets not forget about his effect!" Marie says.

The demon draws out 3 daggers, and pierces 3 cards in Wendy's hand with them, and they fall into the graveyard.

_No, my Book of Tao, Blade of Bushido, and Sashia!_ Wendy says in shock. "Fine, I'll place one card face down, and end my turn."

Marie draws. _Part of my plan B, but there's no reason for me to use it now,_ she thinks. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and Mazera will attack your hare!"

The demon cuts through the beast warrior, and Wendy's life points fall to 2700.

"Your move."

Wendy draws. _Nothing I have can stand up to that thing, but with this card, I might not have to, _she thinks, and sets it face down. "One card face down, your move."

"I hope Wendy has a plan," Renee says.

"The weakness of Trap Monsters is that they can be destroyed like a trap card, making them suseptable to cards like Mystical Space Typhoon," Katie says. "And I have a pretty good idea of what that monster is Wendy just set."

Marie draws. _Just in case, I'd better start my next strategy,_ Marie thinks. "I summon Dark Bat (1000/800), in defense mode!"

A freaky looking bat appears, but its not very threatening.

"Marie, before you continue, I've got a question," Wendy says.

"Ask away," Marie says, looking at a card in her hand.

"Your deck is a bit, unusual, Dark Bat isn't a monster most duelists use, and you said that The Reality Bug is one of a kind, just what kind of deck are you using?" Wendy asks.

"My deck, well, its a bit complicated, you see, when you defeat one strategy, I'm able to move on to another, each one building on each other, of course, I have a strategy that runs inside each of my other's," Marie says. "However, I won't tell you that one, you can figure it out on your own. Now Mazera, destroy her face down monster!"

The fiend runns its dagger through the monster, which is revealed to be a ninja in a red cowl.

"That was my Crimson Ninja (300/300), and when its flipped, I can destroy a trap card on the field, namely your Reality Bug!" Wendy counters, and the monster vanishes.

"Fine, I'm going to activate a little spell card, its called Agression Virus, this adds 2000 attack and defense points to every monster I summon with bat in its name when it attacks or is being attacked. You see, while bats are usualy insectivores, the virus makes them omniverous, but thats irrelivant for now, its your turn," Marie says. _Unless of course she has Robo Ronin in her deck, then I'm in trouble, and since she has a samurai deck, I don't doubt that she does._

Wendy draws. "I activate Card of Sanctity," she says, and they both draw until they have 6 cards. _Cost Down, this won't help me much right now, but at least I can defend myself,_ she thinks. "One monster in defense mode, your turn."

Marie draws. _This card will do fine for later,_ she thinks. "Alright, I'll place one more card face down, now my Dark Bat will attack your face down monster!"

The monster is revealed to be an Unhappy Maiden, a group of strange creatures cover Wendy's field.

"Fine, your move."

Wendy draws. "I activate Cost Down, by discarding one card from my hand..." she says, discarding a Blade of Bushido card. "I can lower the levels of all my monsters by 2, and now I summon my Robo Ronin!"

A mechanical samurai appears.

"Now at first I wasn't sure what you meant by saying that it makes your monster an omnivore, but I think I've figured it out."

"Impressive," Marie says.

"Now Robo Ronnin, attack her Dark Bat with Laser Katana Strike!" Wendy commands, and the robotic warrior slashes through the bat, causing it to explode, and dropping Marie's life points to 3000.

"Uhh, care to explain what just happened?" Darren asks.

"With my spell card, the affected monsters don't gain attack against Machines, or zombies actualy," Marie says. "But I activate my face down card, Emergency Provisions, I'll destroy my Agression VIrus spell card to give me 1000 more life points," she says, and her life points rise to 4000. "So you're right back to where you started."

_She's right, and she's probably got a new strategy cooked up, this could be trouble,_ Wendy thinks. "Alright, I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Marie draws. "I activate Soul Release, and I'll remove all monsters we both have in our graveyards," she says, and Dark Bat, Sashia, Usagi Warrior, Crimson Ninja, and Unhappy Maiden vanish. "Now, you'll see the true fury of my deck, I play the spell card Advanced Robotics, since I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon a high level machine monster from my hand, and here's my decision, the all powerfull **_Swarm, the Rapid Evolutionary_** (2900/2200 + 400))!"

Nothing happens for a minute, and then a black cloud rises out of the earth, glittering and twirling around in the virtual wind.

"I thought this all seemed familiar," Katie says solemnly.

"What do you mean Katie?" Renee asks.

"Marie's strategies, or at least the 3 that we have seen," Katie says. "I read in _Dueling Today_, that a series of cards that where originaly created by Industrial Illusions had been recently re-released to the public by a company called the Hydra Corperation, one of the various companies that Maximillion Pegasus deligated the ability to create Duel Monsters cards to, before his death. The actual cards will be released next year, and the article said that they are all based off of carachters from movies, video games, and books. I think that we're now seeing those cards, but how could Marie get them, unless she had..."

"Some sort of connection to the Hydra Corperation? Why actualy, yes," Marie says. "I'm the President and CEO of the Hydra Games and Archeology Corperation."

"Well, that explains it," Darren says.

"Anyway, Katie, feel free to reveal more about my cards, or at least what you know," Marie says.

"Okay, according to the article, Swarm is the most powerful of the new monsters, its based off of the antagonist of Micheal Crichton's book _Prey_, a swarm of nanobots that evolves rapidly, and thinks for itself. The Reality Bug is based off of a computer virus in the fourth book of D.J MacHale's _Pendragon_ series, also named The Reality Bug, similarly it fed on fears and used them to terrorize people. The Agression Virus I believe is based off of a movie that premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel some 34 years ago called _Bats_, which was about bats that where exposed to a virus that made them more agressive, and as Marie mentioned earlier, made them Omnivores," Katie says. "However, I read in an article about Marie that she has a strategy that she runs throughout the entire duel, but I can't remember what it is."

"Very good, but lets get back to the matter at hand, Swarm, destroy the Robo Ronnin with Mechanical Suffocation attack!" Marie commands, and the black swarm surrounds the mechanical samurai, and he bursts into little pieces, the swarm's attack goes down to 3100 as Wendy's life points go down to 1400. "Your move Wendy."

Wendy draws nervously. "I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "I activate this ritual card, Temple of Heaven, by sacrificing monsters equal to level 8, I can bring out my strongest beast!" she says, and discards two cards. "I summon Shen Lung, the Celestial Herald (3150/2500)!"

An ancient looking dragon appears with a roar.

"Now Shen Lung, destroy her Swarm!"

The dragon blasts through the swarm. But just as Marie places it in her graveyard, the card glows, and the swarm bursts out, and surrounds all of them.

"Whats going on, Marie?" Wendy shouts to the other girl.

"We'll have to call this duel a draw, I'm sorry, now come with me!" Marie shouts, and runs down the path with the 4 friends close behind her.

**000**

After evading the swarm for hours, the 5 duelists settle down in a cave just as it gets dark.

"We should be fine, they can't move in the dark," Marie says, sitting down. "Look, I'm sorry about that, you all deserve an explination. You see, during the testing stages of the card Swarm, the Rapid Evolutionary, something went terribly wrong when the card was played in a virtual world, the monster grew out of control, and threatened to destroy everyone, we thought we had solved the problem, but I guess not."

"Its not your falt, Marie," Katie says.

"I know, I sense a dark power in this tournament, Katie," Marie says, and looks at the Puzzle. "And I think that your the only one who can stop it."

"I'll, uhh, do my best," Katie says.

"The Swarm will have settled down by now, I think we can..." Marie starts, but stops short, the cave entrence has been sealed off. "I guess we can only go further into the cave."

They walk farther back into the cave, not knowing that they're being watched.

**000**

_So amusing,_ Doppler thinks. _They're walking right into my trap, and with the duelists that I've hired, they'll be doomed. Lets hope the Pharoh and his old Priestess can still work together._

**000**

In the main control room for the tournament, Victoria Pegasus had been watching the duel.

"Increase both their Duel Points by one," she tells a technitian, who nods. _Doppler, what are you doing now?_ She thinks as she watches the 5 friends walk through the cave.

**000**

_**Hehe, sorry that I ended it so abruptly, but it'll get better next chapter (also all card and carachter data will appear next chapter).**_

_**Don't miss what happens when Marie and Katie team up against a Tag Team from the past, in "Mask of Restrict."**_

_**Say a prayer for them, will yah?**_


	9. Mask of Restrict

_Well, the last chapter was a bit of a flop with the readers, maybe I should allow anonymous reviews._

_I just remembered that I forgot the deckmasters last duel, oh well, in that case I guess the ante rule overrided it._

_Oh well, time for this fanfictions first, but certainly not last, tag team duel._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh_

**000**

_**Over the course of his career as a duelist, my father participated in 2 tag team duels (not counting the duel against the Big 5 or Dartz).**_

_**I have very little experience in this type of dueling myself, but just enough to get by.**_

_**Currently, I'm being forced into a Tag Team duel with a new friend, against two duelists from my father's past.**_

_**God help us if we lose.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 9:**

**MASK OF RESTRICT**

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**00000**

The 5 duelists continue through the cave system.

"So Marie, what can you tell me about the Millenium Locket?" Katie asks Marie.

"The Locket was made out of the remains of the 7 items, giving it the powers of several of them," Marie says. "As far as I know, it belonged to a young priestess who frequently traveled to other lands to seek aliances between Egypt and other Kingdoms, thats why she wasn't around during the incident with Bakura. Unfortunately, its also why the Pharoh is still amoung us," she says, motioning to the Puzzle. "At that time, the Locket was yet to be found, and the ritual required all 8 Millenium Items to be present, so..."

She stops short, they had emerged into a huge cavern, hovering above it is a huge swirling black vortex.

"It appears to be some variation of the Dark Hole card," Wendy says, looking at the vortex. "And logic states that something will happen when it is triggered."

"Thats right," a cackling voice says from the shadows.

Two figures emerge, one is short, and wearing half of a white smiling mask, the other is tall, wearing a red and black evil-looking mask, both are wearing purple cloaks.

"I've heard of you two, your Lumis and Umbra, the Rare Hunters my father had to duel with Seto Kaiba in the first Battle City Tournament!" Katie says in realization.

"Very good, we where afraid Mr. King of Games had forgotten all about us," Umbra says.

"You two are supposed to be in the shadow realm!" Katie exclaims.

"Yes, but Mistress Doppler let us out for the sole purpose of defeating you!" Lumis says, pointing at Katie. "Of course you'll need a Tag Team partner, and we'll let you decide who it will be."

_Katie something tells me that Marie might make a good partner, you should pick her,_ Yami says to his companion.

Katie nods. "Marie, would you mind dueling with me?" She asks of the gothic duelist.

"It would be my pleasure," Marie says, and the Millenium Locket around her neck glows. When the glow fades, Marie has grown slightly taller, and more feral, at the same time, a similar change overtakes Katie.

"Its a pleasure to fight alongside you, my Pharoh," she says in a deeper, more femminine voice, without the accent. "You probably are unfamiliar with me, so I will introduce myself, I am Mira."

Katie nods, and activates her Duel Disk, Marie, Lumis, and Umbra do the same.

"Now, I choose as my deckmaster, Chaos Command Magician!" Katie says, and the green robed spellcaster appears next to her.

"And mine will be, Jinzo!" Marie says, and the android appears next to her.

"We'll both pick the same monster, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer," Lumis says, and two ugly spellcasters appears.

"LETS DUEL!" They say in unison.

**000**

"Misstress Doppler, if you don't mind me asking, whats your intentions for this?" a servant asks the dark woman.

"Its simple, as strong as Marie and Katie are, they have very little experience in tag team duels, if they're going to win, they'll have to find some way to play on each other's strengths," Doppler says, reclining in her chair. "Despite their past disagreements, Lumis and Umbra play pretty well together, and have more experience. We are filming these, right?"

"I think so," the servant says.

"Good, wouldn't want the so-called King of Games to wonder what happened to his daughter, now would we?" Doppler says with a laugh. "And just in case these masked numbskulls fail, call Jones, and have him on standby to duel one of Katie's friends, that little Guardian duelist I think."

"Jones? Are you sure its safe to trust that old sea demon?" The servant asks nervously.

"DON'T QUESTION ME!" The woman shouts. "Besides, Jones knows the risks of defying my orders. After all, even the great demon of the sea isn't good enough to shine my shoes, which reminds me, have someone do that for me."

**000**

"I'll go first," Lumis says, drawing. "I summon Masked Dragon (1400/1100), in defense mode!"

A red dragon wearing a mask appears.

"I end my turn."

"My move," Katie says, and draws. "I'll just set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Umbra draws. "I set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Marie draws. "Well, I guess I'll just have to start with this card, a little thing called Spell Sanctuary!"

A huge temple appears in the cavern.

"Now, we are allowed to each take one spell card out of our decks and put it in our hands, and also makes spell cards, no matter the type, quick plays."

The four duelists each take a card out of their deck.

"And just to be safe, I set one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

"Why do you think Marie picked Jinzo for her deckmaster?" Daniel asks. "I mean it makes all traps useless."

"Not as a deckmaster," Wendy says. "As a deckmaster, it only negates the opponent's trap cards, some monster's deckmaster abilities are like that, such as the End of Anubis, who negates all the opponent's cards that target the graveyard."

Lumis draws. "I activate my deckmaster's special ability, by paying 500 life points," he says, and his life points fall to 7500. "I can take a magic or trap card out of my deck with the word "Mask" in it."

He takes out his deck, and looks through it, eventualy selecting a card.

"Now, I switch my Masked Dragon to attack mode, and give him the spell card Mask of Brutality, which will raise his attack to 2400."

An ugly mask appears on the dragon.

"And just so I don't have to pay life points, I activate the spell card Mask Doll. Now my dragon, attack Katie's face down monster!"

"Go trap card, Eye of Wdjat, which will change your monster's target to Umbra's face down monster!" Marie counters, and the dragon sends a blast of fire at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Rogue Doll.

"Lumis you idiot, I might've needed that monster!" Umbra shouts.

"I didn't think she'd have that strong of a trap!" Lumis shouts back.

"Those two haven't changed a bit," Katie chuckles.

"Your move, Motou," Lumis growls.

Katie draws. "Hey Marie, can I use your monster?" She asks, and Marie smiles.

"Sure, be my guest," Marie says.

"I sacrifice my monster, and my partner's, to bring forth the Dark Magician!" Katie says, and the two monsters vanish, and are replaced by the purple robed Dark Magician.

"The monster she sacrificed was my Sangan, so I can take a low attack monster out of my deck," Marie says, and takes a card out of her deck. _Exodia's right arm should do it, now I just have to get 4 more,_ she thinks to herself.

"Now Dark Magician, destroy his Masked Dragon, Dark Magic Attack!" Katie commands.

The magician blasts away the dragon, and Lumis' life points fall to 7400.

"Fine, but now I can summon another one from my deck in defense mode," Lumis says, and a secound dragon appears.

"Your move Umbra," Katie says.

Umbra draws. "I activate Cost Down, and I'll discard this card, so I can summon a monster called Dark Mask Guardian (1100/2800)!" Umbra says, and a huge man carrying two masks appears. "And, as long as he's on the field, the effect of one mask card is in play, and I choose the effect of Mask of Restrict, so no one can tribute monsters as long as he is present. And that will end my turn."

_Its a good thing I added this card to my hand,_ Marie says, looking at the card she took from the effect of Spell Sanctuary, she draws. "Now, I'm going to activate a spell card that can only be used when certain monsters are on the field, and it just so happens that one of them is on the field, my partner's Dark Magician, I activate the spell card known as Spell of Polar Opposites!"

A card appears, showing two magical blasts heading towards each other, one black, one white.

"Which allows me to special summon a certain monster from my deck, the polar opposite of the Dark Magician, the Light Magician (2500/2100)!"

Dark energy surrounds the Dark Magician, and then a burst of light comes out of Marie's deck, and on the field emerges a tall spellcaster with an outfit similar to the Dark Magician's, only a light blue, and carrying a white staff.

"I've never heard of that card!" Wendy says, Katie is in equal shock, a card involving her best monster that she didn't even know about?

"I've heard of it," Renee says. "Its supposed to be very rare, and I think that Marie saw that card comming, thats why she used that combo."

"Now lets see here," Marie says, looking over her hand, which consists of one Exodia piece, Magic Formula, and a Card of Sanctity. "I activate Card of Sanctity!"

All players draw until they have 6 cards.

"Now this will work, I activate Double Cost Down, by discarding two cards from my hand," she says, and does so, discarding a Monster Reincarnation and Swarm, the Rapid Evolutionary. "All monsters in me and my partner's hands lose 4 levels, so I can summon this monster without a problem, a little thing called Volvagia, the Subteranian Lava Dragon (2500/2100)!"

A loud roar is heard, and from the ground emerges a huge red serpant dragon with a black skull-like head, spewing fire as he flies around.

"You know, in the video game Ocarina of Time, Volvagia was an ancient dragon that terrorized the Gorons," Marie says, admiring her dragon. "But in the Manga, Link had bought him as a pet, and then Gannondorf got his hands on the poor dragon, and made him evil. Its sad, Link had to kill his own friend, and swore revenge against the King of Evil. Now Volvagia is back, and more than happy to fight on the side of good for once."

"Is it just me, or do Marie's cards just get weirder and weirder," Daniel says.

"Yes, but at the moment, I'm not complaining," Wendy says.

"And to finish things off, I'll set one card face down," Marie says.

Lumis draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Katie draws, and Marie smirks.

"I activate my face down card, Magic Formula, and I'll equip it to Katie's Dark Magician!" Marie says, and an ancient tome appears in the Dark Magician's hands.

"Thanks Marie," Katie says, and looks over her hand. "Now Dark Magician, destroy Umbra's Dark Mask Guardian with Dark Magic Attack!"

The spellcaster twirls his wand, and blasts away the guardian.

"And now, since my partner's Double Cost Down carried over into my turn, I can summon this monster without a tribute, Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

The young, female apprentice of the Dark Magician appears with a twirl of her wand, and a wink.

"Your move Umbra."

Umbra draws. "I summon Melchid the Four Faced Beast (1500/1200), in attack mode!" He says, and the four faced fiend appears. "But he's not going to stay around for long, I sacrifice him, and my partner's monster, to bring forth the mighty Masked Beast Des Guardias (3300/3000)!"

The huge fiend appears with a roar of bloodlust.

"Now attack the Light Magician with Bloodlust Slash!"

The demon destroys the magician, and Marie's life points fall to 7200.

"Your move, Marie."

Marie draws. "I activate Pot of Charity, and I'll remove my Light Magician from the game in order to draw 3 cards," she says, and draws 3 cards. "Now, I sacrifice Volvagia and the Dark Magician Girl, to summon a dark warrior known as **_Sheik, the Mysterious Guardian _**(3700/3200)!"

A whip is cracked, and a figure comes flying into view. When it stops, it is revealed as a man in armor with a cloth around his head, showing only a little blonde hair and one red eye, on his chest is a symbol similar to the Eye of Truth trap card.

"Now Sheik, attack Des Gardias with Dark Whip attack!"

The dark warrior whips at the demon, and brings it crashing down, dropping Lumis and Umbra's life points to 7100.

"And now, since my monster was used to summon the Dark Magician, I can control him as well, Dark Magician, direct attack, Dark Magic attack!"

The magician blasts away at Lumis and Umbra's life points, which fall to 4100.

"And I'll end with a face down card."

_Something's wrong, Lumis and Umbra don't seem worried that one of their best monsters just got sent to kingdom-come,_ Wendy thinks.

"Marie either just made a big mistake, or she has a plan," Renee says. "I've seen this monster before, and Marie just activated its effect."

"Hehe, by destroying Des Gardias, I am permitted to activate a certain card from my deck, the Mask of Bequeathed!" Umbra says, and first the 3 masks from the demon appear, and then they merge together to form one ugly mask, that forms onto Sheik's face, and he floats over to Umbra's side. "Now, your warrior belongs to us."

"And its my turn," Lumis says, and draws. "I activate the spell card Masquerade, so I can use my partner's cards as my own, now Sheik, attack their life points directly!"

The dark warrior whips at both the girls, and their life points fall to 3500.

"We're in the lead!" Umbra says with a grin.

"Not for long though, activate face down card, Golden Power!" Marie says, and the field is bathed in golden light. "This card can only be activated when I take at least 3000 points of damage, like I just did, and when Sheik, the Mysterious Guardian is on the field, which he is. I can now sacrifice Sheik to bring forth three monsters from my deck, first, the hero, posessor of the Triforce of Courage, **_Link, Guardian of Hyrule _**(2300/2500)!"

A warrior appears in a green tunic with short blonde hair, carrying a silver shield with strange markings, and carrying a sword with a blue hilt, on his left hand, a golden triangle glows.

"Next, the damsel in distress, posessor of the Triforce of Wisdom, **_Zelda, Princess of Destiny_** (2800/2300)!"

A woman with long blonde hair, wearing a pink dress appears, a golden triangle glows on her left hand.

"And finaly, the villain, posessor of the Triforce of Power, **_Gannondorf, the King of Evil_** (3500/3000)!"

An evil man wearing black armor with red hair appears.

"Uhh, I place one card face down, and end my turn," Lumis says nervously.

Katie draws. "I activate Monster Reborn, and revive Marie's Sangan, now I'll activate Card of Sanctity!"

The four duelists draw until they have 6 cards.

"And now, I'll activate Share the Pain, now I'll sacrifice Sangan, to destroy your face down monster!"

The face down monster, which is revealed to be a Masked Dragon, explodes.

"And since Sangan went to my graveyard, I get the benefit of its effect," Marie says, and takes a card out of her deck. "Game over, Lumis and Umbra, because thanks to Katie's combo, I've drawn all 5 pieces of Exodia!"

She places the 5 cards on her duel disk, and the forbidden giant emerges out of a pentagram.

"EXODIA, OBLITERATE!"

The giant monster sends his blast of obliteration through Lumis and Umbra, who's disks flash "LOSE," then the two former rare hunters are sucked into the vortex.

"Wow, that was pretty cool," Wendy says, after the excitement fades.

"Yeah," Marie says, back to normal, she takes 4 cards out of her binder, and hands one to each of the group. "Take these, you can use them better than I can. Take the path ahead, and you'll find yourself on the ocean area of the Dimension."

Without another word, Marie exits the way they came.

The 4 friends shrug, put the cards in their deck, and walk off towards the exit.

**000**

"Well, Lumis and Umbra failed," the servant says nervously.

"Yes, but we learned one important thing, that Marie and Katie make a dangerous team," Doppler says.

**000**

_Usagi Warrior, Temple of Heaven, Robo Ronin, Shen Lung, the Celestial Herald, and Link, Guardian of Hyrule where created by Cyber Commander, all credit goes to him._

_Spell Sanctuary was used by Seto Kaiba in the multi-part episode "Clash in the Colloseum."_

_Eye of Wjdat I think is from the show._

_Masquerade and Mask of the Bequeathed was used by Lumis and Umbra._

_Light Magician was created by a member of an rpg, all credit goes to her, even though I haven't seen her in over 2 years (like I care, she was a nag)._

_Magical Formula was used by Yugi somewhere in the show, against Bakura I think._

_Volvagia, the Subteranian Lava Dragon first appeared in my fanfiction "A Divided Heart."_

**000**

_**The Reality Bug**_

_**Continuous Trap**_

_**Image of a dark form rising from the earth. When this card is activated, create a virus token that takes on the type, attribute, attack, defense, and level of the monster that the opponent fears most.**_

_**(This card is based off of part of the 4th book in D.J MacHale's Pendragon series, by the same title, all creative credit goes to him.)**_

_**Agression Virus**_

_**Continuous Spell**_

_**A bat growing larger. As long as this card is active, all monsters on the field with "Bat" in their name's attack and defense goes up to 3000 when battling a monster of any type but MACHINE or ZOMBIE.**_

_**(This card is based off of a virus from the movie Bats, all credit goes to whoever made that movie.)**_

_**Swarm, the Rapid Evolutionary**_

_**9**_

_**Dark**_

_**2900/2200**_

_**This card was made to honor the author Micheal Crichton and his book Prey, the swarm moves fast, and evolves quickly. On each of your standby phases, this card gains a different effect. (Since it'll take too long to list all 8 of them, we'll get to that later)**_

_**(This card is based off of the Antagonist of Micheal Crichton's book Prey, all creative credit goes to him.)**_

_**Double Cost Down**_

_**Spell card**_

_**Image of swords penetrating 4 stars on a monster card. Discard two cards, until the end of the turn that this card is activated, the level of all the monsters in the user's hand is decreased by 4.**_

_**Sheik, the Mysterious Guardian**_

_**8**_

_**Dark**_

_**3700/3200**_

_**Warrior**_

_**Sheik is the last of his tribe, and some say is the Princess in disguise.**_

_**Golden Power**_

_**Quick-Play Spell**_

_**Image of 3 triangles, radiating golden energy over a desolate land. This card can only be activated when the user loses 3000 life points or more in one turn, and if "Sheik, the Mysterious Guardian" is on the field. If these conditions are met, summon "Link, Guardian of Hyrule," "Zelda, Princess of Destiny," and "Gannondorf, King of Evil" from your hand, deck, or graveyard.**_

_**Zelda, Princess of Destiny**_

_**7**_

_**Light**_

_**2800/2300**_

_**Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**The Princess of Hyrule, Zelda serves her purpose as the princess of destiny, and guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom. As long as this monster is on the field, the user is allowed to see what cards the opponent draws.**_

_**Gannondorf, King of Evil**_

_**9**_

_**Dark**_

_**3500/3000**_

_**Fiend/Effect**_

_**At first glance, he might seem not as evil, but he is evil to the core, and what makes it worse is his posession of the Triforce of Power. This monster gains 500 attack for every monster on the opponent's side of the field.**_

_**(The above 4 cards are from the Legend of Zelda games, all credit goes to Nintendo of America.)**_

_**Dark Mask Guardian**_

_**6**_

_**Dark**_

_**1100/2800**_

_**Fiend/Effect**_

_**This monster protects all masks. As long as this monster is on the field, the effect of any card with "Mask" in its name is active.**_

**000**

_Deckmasters:_

_Jinzo: Negate all of your opponent's trap cards._

_Chaos Command Magician: Remove 300 attack points from this monster to add a spell counter to a monster with an effect that uses one._

_Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer: Pay 500 life points to add any card in your deck that has "Mask" in its name from your deck to your hand._

**000**

_**Marie's Deck-Prayer to the Forbidden Gods**_

_Marie Huebner has always lived a semi-comfortable life, other than the fact that since she is different, no one really likes her, not just because she's a bit of a goth, but also because she's a mutant. Mutants have existed for years, and Marie is the 3rd generation in her family to posess the X-Gene, and the second duelist in her family, after her mother. No one knows much about her family, but some say that her grandmother was one of the original X-Men._

_Marie's deck, much like her powers, is very adaptable, when one strategy is defeated, Marie just uses another one, so far we have only seen the proverbial tip of the iceburg._

_Marie's dueling skills, and her powers might be usefull in the future._

**000**

_**Wow, long chapter.**_

_**Alright, finaly that little saga is over, and we can move on.**_

_**Next, a villain from one of the movies that came out this summer makes an apperance, and duels Renee. If you haven't figured it out by now, you'll have to wait until next time to see who it is. Don't miss, "Skull Mariner."**_

_**Be there, or we're starting without you.**_


	10. Skull Mariner

_None of my readers know this (other than Cyber Commander), but I'm big on studying Pirates._

_So naturally, I like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, especially the new one, Dead Man's Chest._

_So, I decided to bring in the villain of that movie, and have him duel Renee._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest._

**000**

_**Did you ever have one of those days, where the whole world seems to be working against you?**_

_**Well, I'm having one of those days, and when your a duelist, that's the worst kind of day to have.**_

_**Especially when your facing a sea demon bent on enslaving your soul for all eternity.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 10**

**SKULL MARINER**

**0000000000**

**00000**

"Ahh, finally, light!" Darren says as the 4 friends emerge from the cave, in front of them is the coast, and the ocean, a town rests just by the water.

"Wow, the ocean is beautiful here," Renee, says, looking at the clear water.

The 4 friends walk into the town, which looks somewhat like an old colonial town.

"The Library of Nautical Records," Katie says, looking at the largest building in the town. "Its worth a look."

They enter, and gasp, towering over the entrance hall is a statue of a pirate, wearing the hat you would usually picture on a pirate, as well as a jacket, with long curled hair, the oddest feature about him is a cross on his chest. The pedestal he stands on has a quote, "A short and merry life have we."

"You be interested in old Black Bart, are ye?" A voice from behind them says, and an old man with an eye patch, leaning on a cane enters.

"Yeah, who was he?" Wendy asks.

"The most successful Pirate to ever sail the Spanish Main, Captain Bartholomew Roberts captured 400 ships before going down to meet Davy Jones," the old man says. "Roberts wasn't exactly how you would picture a pirate captain, he never drank rum or any of that, he was a Christian, and even held Sunday services on his Pirate Ship. We just have a statue of him up to honor the golden age of piracy that ended so long ago."

"Hasn't piracy always existed as long as the gains outweigh the risks?" Renee points out.

"Yes, but..." the man starts, and then his ears perk up. "Bloody hell, the sea demon's come back."

In the distance, the sounds of cannon fire can be heard.

"Who is it?" Katie asks.

"You've heard the legends about him, a demon wandering the seas, taking whatever falls into the crushing abyss," the old man says, and the 4 friends look bewildered. "Davy Jones, he's here, with his ship, the _Flying Dutchman_. The only problem is, he only arrives here under the orders of _her._"

"Who?" Katie asks.

"Well, I don't be knowing the exact details, but they say that Jones takes orders from a woman towards the center of the Dimension, some even say that she be a demon herself," the man says. "He must be here for a reason."

Katie and Yami exchange glances.

"You don't think that he's after us, do you?" Katie asks him.

"After everything that's been happening, I wouldn't doubt it," Yami says.

They exit the library, and a voice can be heard through a Megaphone.

"Bring me Katie Motou and her friends, and my crew and me will leave your town be, otherwise we will attack, and raid your town of all your valuables," a crackly voice says. "You can't miss them, find the short girl with an upside-down pyramid around her neck."

Some of the townspeople see Katie and her friends, and soon the 4 duelists are dragged off towards the harbor, and sent on a boat to a hideous looking ship with a monstrous maw for a bow, and the image of the Grim Reaper as the masthead.

"That's the _Flying Dutchman_ alright," Katie says, remembering seeing the ship in the movie, _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest_.

**000**

The 4 duelists get unceremoniously thrown onto the deck of the ship, and dragged off by a group of hideous crewmembers that look like a combination of men and sea monsters.

"You'll stay here until the captain decides what to do with you," a pirate with a head like a Hammerhead shark says, and forces the 4 duelists down onto the deck.

As they wait, they notice that some of the crewmembers are playing Duel Monsters. Renee turns to one of their captors.

"I doubt that they're dueling for fun, is there a reason to it?" She wonders out loud.

"Crewmembers duel each other, and wager the only thing we have to wager, years of service to Davy Jones," the pirate says.

"And any crewmember can be challenged, right?" Renee asks, and the pirate nods. "Then I challenge Davy Jones!"

"Are you nuts, he'll never accept!" Katie says.

"Its our only chance at getting free," Renee replies.

Suddenly, the sound of a peg leg (or something similar) hitting the deck above is heard, and then goes down the steps, and out steps what appears to be a man with the head of an octopus, topped by a hat with its peaks pointed upwards like the horns of a devil, and a claw and leg like a crab.

"I accept yer challenge," he says, and a bizarre duel disk appears, fitting over his claw, and the pirates make room. "What be the stakes?"

"An eternity of servitude for me and my friends, against our safe return to the town," Renee says, activating her duel disk.

"I accept those terms," Jones says, and takes his deck out. "I choose as my deckmaster, Nightmare Penguin!"

A Penguin in a tuxedo appears next to him.

"And I'll pick..." Renee starts, looking through her deck, and stops on a card. "Guardian Elma!"

The beautiful female guardian carrying a dagger, and wearing an outfit shaped like a butterfly appears.

_Renee, me and my allies served by your father faithfully, I am glad to be of help to you,_ she says to Renee.

_"Thanks,"_ Renee says. _"What's your deckmaster ability anyway?"_

_When an equip card is sent to the graveyard, you can discard one card from your hand to bring it back,_ Elma replies. _But when it's destroyed a second time, it is removed from play, so keep that in mind._

_"Thanks,"_ Renee says.

"I'll be going first," Jones says, and draws. "I place one card face down, and activate the field spell, A Legendary Ocean!"

Water crashes around them, and a huge castle appears behind Jones.

"Now, I summon, Drowned Zombie (1500/0 + 400/200)!"

A waterlogged corpse dressed in ragged pirates clothes appears, swinging a cutlass.

"And that's it for me."

Renee draws. _Talk about a crappy hand,_ she thinks. _Just 6 spell cards. _"I place one card face down, and activate the spell card, Magic of the Pure Cemetery!"

A spell card depicting a holy man looking over an old grave appears.

"Now, I activate the spell card Pot of Greed," Renee says, and draws 2 cards. "Now, I can activate the spell card, Guardian Treasure, I discard these 5 cards..." she says, and discards the remaining 5 cards in her hand. "And I can draw 2 cards, and on each of my draw phases, I can also draw 2 cards instead of one."

She draws 2 cards, and looks them over. _One of the cards I need, my family's heirloom, _she thinks to herself, looking at the exotic looking fairy monster. _Thanks dad, this card will be of use to me later._

"I set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Jones draws. "I summon the master of the Legendary Ocean, Seastealth-2, also known as the Legendary Fisherman (1850/1600 + 200)!" He says, and a bizarre looking man carrying a spear, and riding a shark appears. "Now attack her face down monster with Harpoon of Doom!"

The fisherman throws his harpoon at the monster, but it gets thrown back, and Jones' life points fall to 3850.

"Thanks for attacking," Renee says with a chuckle, and an ugly looking demon with long red hair appears. "That was my Back Up Guardna (0/2200), a little too strong for your monster."

"Fine, your move lass," Jones says.

Renee draws her two cards. "I activate Magical Mallet, so I'll shuffle one card from my hand, and my hammer back into my deck, and draw 2 more cards," she says, and shuffles the Mallet card, and a Guardian Aitos back into her deck, and draws 2 cards. _Okay, I only have Guardian Kay'est and her weapon that I can use, not to mention this Guardian Grarl, oh well, this will have to do,_ she thinks. "I'll equip Guardna with Rod of Silence-Kay'est."

As she says this, a purplish blue rod appears in Back Up Guardna's hand.

"Now, I can summon the owner of the Rod of Silence, Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in attack mode!"

A mermaid-like woman appears.

"Now, I'll use Guardna's special ability, and switch the Rod of Silence to Guardian Kay'est."

The rod switches to the mermaid.

"Since none of my monsters are strong enough to defeat yours, I'll end my turn."

Jones draws. _I'll save this card in case she manages to get rid of my field card,_ he thinks, adding it to his hand. "Now, I summon Jolly Roger (1900/1700 + 400), in attack mode!"

A ghostly pirate captain appears.

"This activates his special ability, I pay 1000 life points to summon two Skull Mariners (1600/900 + 400/200 x2), from my deck in attack mode!"

His life points fall to 2850 as two ghostly pirate ships appear

"Now first things first, Fisherman, attack her mermaid with harpoon of doom!"

_I could use my face down card on this monster, but there wouldn't be much point,_ Renee thinks as the Fisherman throws his spear, but its suddenly blocked by a bird made of water. "Guardian Kay'est cannot be attacked."

"Arrgh, Roger, destroy her Guardna with Undead Cutlass Slash!" Jones commands, and the ghostly captain charges at Guardna.

"Activate trap card, Guardian Formation!" Renee counters, and Back Up Guardna dodges the attack, which goes harmlessly by. "This negates your attack, and allows me to take an equip card out of my deck, and give it to one of my monsters Renee counters, and takes a card out of her deck. "I'll equip Guardna with the Gravity Axe-Grarl!"

The axe appears in the demon's hand.

_And if my luck holds out next turn, I can summon Grarl from my hand without a sacrifice,_ Renee thinks.

"Arrgh, I'll end me turn," Jones says.

"Hmm, Jones seems to be using an ocean deck, with some zombies, probably water-based one's for that matter," Yami says to Katie.

"Yeah, I hope that Renee can win, Ocean decks are tricky," Katie says.

Renee draws 2 cards. _Okay, I have Guardian Baou and Heart of Clear Water, I can only use one of these cards now, which means I can't summon Grarl without a tribute,_ she thinks. "All right, I'll equip Back Up Guardna with Heart of Clear Water, so he can't be destroyed in battle, to end my turn."

Jones draws. "I activate the continuous spell card, Dark Evolution!"

A card with the image of a coastline with 4 dark figures appears.

"Dark Evolution? Oh man, Renee's got her work cut out for her now," Darren says. "I got that card in a pack once, I've never been able to use it, but, it's extremely powerful in an ocean deck."

"Before I do anything else, I switch Jolly Roger, and my two Mariner's to defense mode, and activate the spell card, Offensive Armageddon, which destroys all monsters in attack mode!"

Kay'est, The Legendary Fisherman, and Drowned Zombie are destroyed.

"I summon the first card I'll need for Dark Evolution, Gigobyte (350/300 + 400/200)!" He says, and a cute little lizard appears. "And to finish things off, I'll place two cards face down."

Renee draws.

"I activate the trap card, Kraken's Rage, so you must skip your battle phase for this turn!" Jones says, and a huge sea monster appears, and wraps its tentacles around Renee's duel disk.

"Fine, I'll activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your field card!" Renee says, and a huge maelstrom comes up, and wipes out the city and water. "Now, I play Pot of Greed."

The symbol of avarice appears, and Renee draws 2 cards.

"Good, now I'll equip Back-Up Guardna with Wicked Breaking Flameberge-Baou!" Renee says, discarding a card, and a giant sword appears in the demon's hand. "Now, I summon Guardian Baou (800/400)!"

A demonic looking guardian appears.

"And now, since it's the last card in my hand, I can special summon Guardian Grarl (2500/1200) to the field!"

A dinosaur-man appears wielding an axe appears.

"I'll end my turn there."

Jones draws.

"I'll sacrifice Gigobyte for my Dark Evolution card, to summon forth, Gagagigo (1850/1000 +200/200)!"

A lizard-man appears.

"And now, I activate the spell card Graveyard of Ships, by sacrificing my two Skull Mariners, I can take back my Legendary Ocean card."

The card slips out of his graveyard, and he adds it to his hand.

"And, I'll play it again!"

The ocean rises around them again.

"And now, I'll summon Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 (1500/1300 + 400/200)!"

A machine appears.

"Now Bugroth, direct attack!"

The submarine blasts Renee with two water blasts, and her life points fall to 2100.

"Fine, my move," Renee says, getting up, and drawing. "Grarl, destroy the Bugroth, with Gravity Axe Smash."

The dinosaur smashes through the submarine, and Jones' life points fall to 2250.

"Why didn't Renee attack Gagagigo?" Wendy wonders.

"Because then the Bugroth could've attacked her again, which would've left Renee with only 200 life points," Katie says.

"Your move, freak," Renee says.

Jones draws. "Now, I can sacrifice my Gagagigo, to summon Giga Gagagigo (2450/1500 + 400/200)!"

The lizard man mutates, and becomes more hideous and demonic.

"Now, attack her Guardian Baou!"

The lizard man blasts through the demon, Renee gasps, and collapses as her life points fall to 150.

"Oh no," Katie says. "Jones just might win this one, unless Renee has a plan."

Renee groans as she gets up, and draws. "I activate the spell card, Fallen Guardian, now I can remove one Guardian monster from the game, and draw 3 cards," she says, gasping as Guardian Baou dissapears, and she draws 3 cards. _Finally, this duel can end,_ she thinks. "I activate the equip card, Celestial Sword, and give it to my Guardna!"

A sword appears in the demon's hand.

"Now Jones, its time to finish you off once and for all, I activate the spell card, Soul Release, and I'll remove from the game your Graveyard of Ships, Offensive Armageddon, and my Guardian Kay'est!"

The 3 cards appear, and then disappear into the Different Dimension.

"And now, I can summon this monster without a tribute, the mighty, **_Guardian Aitos_** (2500/2000)!"

A woman dressed in native American-like clothes, carrying a sword, and having large wings appears.

"And now, I'll use the effect of my Guardna to switch the Celestial Sword to my Guardian Aitos!"

"And now, her effect is activated, removing monsters from your graveyard until I hit a spell or trap card, and increasing her attack by the attack of each one!"

All of Jones' monsters appear, and vanish, Aitos' attack goes up to 10,900.

"Now Aitos, attack his Giga Gagagigo with Celestial Sword Slash!"

The fairy guardian cuts through the demonic-looking lizard man, who bursts into pixels, and Jones' life points fall to 0, and Renee's duel points go up to 4.

"No, I won't accept this! I want a rematch!" Jones shouts.

"There will be no rematches!" A voice from above them shouts, and a dark figure appears on the deck.

"Mistress Doppler, I'm s-sorry!" Jones says, falling to his knees.

"I didn't ever expect you to win anyway, your just a pawn in this game," Doppler says. "Now, you must keep your end of the bargain, and return them to the coast."

The strange woman turns to Katie.

"We'll meet again, Motou, you can guarantee it," she hisses, and vanishes.

Jones nervously gets up, and starts barking orders at the crew.

Katie and her friends are brought to the Captain's cabin for the remainder of the voyage back.

**000**

That night, back in the town, Katie and her friends spend the night at a hotel.

Katie places her Millennium Puzzle on her bedside table, and goes to sleep, wondering what Doppler meant.

About halfway through the night, her dreams turned strange.

**000**

_Rafael used Magic of the Pure Cemetery, Guardian Formation, Celestial Sword, and Guardian Aitos during the Waking the Dragons series._

_Dark Evolution was created by Cyber Commander, and so was a few of the other cards used in this chapter, the information for those will be below._

**000**

_**Offensive Armageddon**_

_**Spell card**_

_**Image of an army being destroyed by a huge blast. When this card is activated, destroy all monsters on the field that are in face up attack position.**_

_**Fallen Guardian**_

_**Spell card**_

_**Image of Guardian Aitos blessing a young man on an island. Remove one monster in your graveyard with "Guardian" in its name to draw 3 cards.**_

_**(The image is supposed to be based off of Rafael, and his years trapped on an island before the Dartz incident.)**_

**000**

_**Deckmasters-**_

_**Guardian Elma-Arsenal Reload: Discard one card from your hand to add an equip card from your graveyard to your hand. When the card is destroyed a second time, it is removed from play.**_

_**Nightmare Penguin-Ocean Power: All water monsters on your field gain 200 attack points as long as this is your deckmaster.**_

**000**

_**Yes, I know Renee used Pot of Greed twice, sorry, it won't happen again.**_

_**Next time, Katie gets an unusual nighttime visitor, and follows the Path of Dante Alighieri down through the Inferno, in, "Inferno".**_

_**Don't miss it.**_


	11. Inferno

This chapter will be more of a filler than anything, but it will provide answers for the plot.

Also, if anyone doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell, or is offended by anything of that sort, don't read any further.

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or the Inferno._

**000**

_**Tonight I'm in a tough spot.**_

_**Normally that would mean I'm dueling a really strong opponent, or something like that, but not this time.**_

_**I was visited by a strange woman, who brought me down to the fiery depths of Hell, in order to…**_

_**Well, at the moment I'm not sure of her intentions.**_

_**But after yesterday, I've got to be careful of who I meet.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 11**

**PANDEMONIUM**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Katie blinks, looking around at her surroundings, she sees that she's in a room draped with tapestries, at one end sits an empty throne.

"Am I still dreaming?" she wonders out loud, looking down to see that she's back in her every-day clothes, with the Puzzle hanging around her neck.

All of a sudden, the galloping of horses is heard, and from a portal, emerges a figure riding on a black horse, wearing a black cloak, the only thing you can see of its body is two pale hands gripping the reigns.

"Who are you?" Katie demands as the horseman stops right by her.

"You mortals call me the Grim Reaper," the figure says in a voice that is oddly feminine. "But you can just call me Jess," she says, and lowers her hood, the woman before Katie could only be described as beautiful, with long dark brown hair pulled into a braid, she looks at the young duelist with piercing blue eyes.

"The Grim Reaper? I always though the Grim Reaper was, you know, a guy," Katie gulps. "Am I dead?"

"Actually, the mortals perceive me as genderless, but the Angel of Death can be a man or a woman, its been me for about 10,000 years now," Jess says. "And no, you are not dead, but I have come to fetch you for a very important meeting."

"Why?" Katie asks.

"You can sense it, can't you, the darkness spreading, there is a balance in the universe between light and darkness, but every so often, someone attempts to throw off that balance, someone of darkness," Jess says. "The darkness is usually spread from one source, created by humans in an attempt to cover the world in darkness, but the source isn't always from earth, sometimes not even from Hell. I want you to speak at a meeting of the elite of Hell."

"What? Why me?" Katie asks. "And why Hell?"

"You've seen the answer, Doppler, she is a demon, but not like one that is under the command of the devil," Jess says. "I cannot tell you all the details, you must come with me to learn them, but only if you want to."

Katie thinks for a minute, and nods, then climbs up onto the saddle with Jess, and the horse gallops off through a portal.

**000**

They emerge onto a plain of fire, in front of them is a gate carved into a mountain above them are the following words:

"_**I AM THE WAY TO THE CITY OF WOE.**_

_**I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE.**_

_**I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW.**_

_**SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT**_

_**I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE,**_

_**PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLECT.**_

_**ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR**_

_**WERE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME I STAND.  
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE."**_

"This is your last chance to turn back," Jess says as they dismount the black horse. "After this, you must travel through Hell until you reach the 9th circle, and meet with its ruler."

"I'm ready to go," Katie says. _To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I want to learn more about what's going on,_ she thinks, and Jess nods, and they pass through the gates of Hell, and emerge onto the First Circle of Hell, Limbo.

**000**

Instead of sounds of suffering, a sigh meets the two when they enter; Katie sees before her the souls of limbo.

"The unbaptized children, the one's who died before the age of Christian mysteries, so they didn't worship the Trinity," She recalls from reading Dante's_ Inferno_.

"And the Virtuous Pagans," Jess says, motioning to a group apart. "Those who because of their great works on earth, are given ease in Hell thanks to god's favor."

The 2 pass through the first Circle, and enter the second; standing before them is the judge of the dead, Minos.

"Who dares attempt passage without my judgment?" Minos bellows at Katie, causing her to cower before the demon.

"Minos, Judge of the Dead, she has been allowed to pass through each door, and travel to meet with the one who resides over the 9th circle," Jess says, not buckling to the voice of Minos. "She shall pass, unless thou would rather deal with me."

Minos glowers for a moment, and waves them pass through a door behind him.

**000**

The rest of Katie's journey through Hell wasn't pleasant, with each circle that passed, she saw the terrors that the souls had brought upon themselves in life.

In the 3rd circle, she saw the beast Cerebus feed on the Gluttons.

In the 4th circle, she saw the never-ending clash between the Hoarders and the Wasters.

The 5th circle, she saw in the Marshes of Styx, the buried souls of the Sullen, and the actions of the Wrathful.

It took some coaxing for Katie to pass through the Fallen Angels of the 6th circle, and before them where the Heretics, those who would not believe in life after death, and for that where cast into fiery graves.

In the 1st Round of the 7th circle, Katie saw those who where violent against their neighbors, forever immersed in boiling blood, and the centaurs that guarded over them.

In the 2nd Round of the 7th circle, Katie saw the fates of those who where violent against themselves, those who had committed suicide, trapped in trees as the Harpies fed on them for eternity.

And then came the 3rd round of the 7th circle, those who where violent against God, Nature, and Art, trapped in burning sand, while fire rained down on them, Katie was getting a little afraid.

"Do not worry, Katie, the terrors of Hell cannot affect the living, they are reserved for the souls that are damned to live here for all eternity," Jess says to the small girl.

"Malebolge," Katie mutters, looking at the long trek ahead of them through the 8th circle.

"You will see things here that frighten even me," Jess says. I remember when I first came here; it was 10,000 years ago, at the height of Atlantian Power, and then the Orichalcos came, when I died, I was granted the power to rule over death, as long as I would ferry souls between life and death, and sometimes I regret accepting that offer, but now I cannot change it."

"You where once mortal?" Katie asks.

"Yes, I once had a family, a husband, a daughter, and everything went downhill from the day the Orichalcos came," Jess says.

"Your husband, was he…" Katie begins.

"Don't worry about me past, its your future that's at stake here at the moment, Katie, just keep your heart just, and this will be your last trip to Hell," Jess says, placing her hand on Katie as they continue their trek.

In the 1st Bolgia, where the seducers are whipped by horned demons with great lashes, the demons symbolize the sinners' own vicious natures, embodiments of their own guilty consciences.

In the 2nd Bolgia, the Flatterers are sunk in excretement, the true equivalent of their false flatteries on Earth.

The 3rd Bolgia contains the Simoniacs, who are placed upside-down with the soles of their feet ablaze in holes. The heat of the blaze is proportioned to their guilt.

The 4th Bolgia contains Fortune Tellers and Diviners, who have their heads turned backwards on their bodies through all eternity, their eyes blinded with tears, for they cannot see their past or future.

The 5th Bolgia contains the Grafters, who are sunk in boiling pitch, and are torn to pieces by the claws and grappling hooks of demons.

The 6th Bolgia contains the Hypocrites, who are laden with heavy robes, and must walk a narrow path for all eternity.

The 7th Bolgia contains the Thieves, who are doomed to have lizards wrapped around their bodies like coils of rope, when one is bitten, he is set ablaze, and reforms painfully from the ashes.

The 8th Bolgia contains the Evil Councilors, who move about within great flames.

The 9th Bolgia contains the Sowers of Discord, who are hacked and torn throughout eternity, and must drag themselves back to the demon.

The 10th Bolgia contains the Falsifiers, who are punished by afflictions of every sense: darkness, stench, filth, loathsome diseases, and a shrieking din.

From there, they emerge onto the 9th circle of Hell, the throne of the Devil, and where the betrayers and mutineers are tortured.

Before them sits a woman, laden in a black robe, and with red hair, her skin is very tanned, and an unholy energy appears to radiate from her body.

"Is that? The devil?" Katie asks.

"Yes, it's a long story, and I don't want to get into the details, so lets just get this over with," Jess says as they reach the woman seated on the throne, she kneels. "Hail Lilith, Queen of Hell, and Guardian of the dead."

"So, this is the new chosen of light," Lilith says in a voice with a strangely Russian accent. "It is only under the gravest of circumstances that a mortal is permitted to travel through the fires of Hell, young Katie."

"I can understand why," Katie mumbles. "So what is your reasoning for bringing me here? I thought the Devil would love to see the world shrouded in darkness and evil."

"A common misconception, spread by the Church no less," Lilith, says. "I am held here by Divine Law, young Katie, and any demon that in the past has infiltrated the Earth, would do it out of greed, and the pursuit of power, for that unfortunately is how Politics is run here in Hell, not unlike how it is run in many countries around your world."

Images flash of men like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Nero, and several other past dictators that Katie had read about.

"Here, these men get their just deserts, much like on Earth, souls here are given sentences, depending on their sin, some are here for a short time, and are repentant, and sent to Heaven, but other's, some will spend all eternity here, they are the murderers, the dictators, the hypocrites, the terrorists, every enemy that the United States has faced in the name of Peace," Lilith says. "Do you remember reading in your history books about a man named Viktor Gronzy?"

"Uhh, yeah, he was the leader of the Russian Federation during the incident in 2012," Katie says. "He almost destroyed the world because he refused to self-destruct his weapons."

"Yes, that is true, now if I may show you something, this was 11 days before the incident," Lilith says, and a screen appears, and shows an auditorium in the United Nations building. "This is his message to the world, his, legacy so to speak."

On screen… 

The packed auditorium grows quiet, the television cameras rolling as Viktor Ilyich Gronzy walks to the podium to address the members of the United Nations Security Council, and the rest of the world.

"Madame President, Mr. Secretary-General, members of the Security Council, honored guests—this is a sad day. Despite mandates and warnings from the General Assembly and the Security Council, despite the exhausted efforts of preventive diplomacy and peacemaking by the Secretary-General and his special envoys, one nation—one rogue but very powerful nation continues to threaten the world with the most dangerous weapon in the history of mankind.

"The Cold War is over, or so we are told, the virtues of capitalism triumphing over the evils of Communism. While the economies of the West continue to grow, the Russian Federation struggles to rebuild. Our people are destitute, starving by the thousands. Do we blame the West? No. Russia's problems were created by Russians, and it is our responsibility to save ourselves."

The angelic blue eyes project a childlike innocence into the camera. "I am a man of peace. Through the diplomacy of words I have convinced our Arab and Serbian and Korean brothers to lay down their guns against their sworn enemies, because I know and believe that in my heart that violence solves nothing and that the wrongs of the past cannot be undone. Morality is a personal choice. Each of us shall be judged by the Creator when the time comes, yet no man has a God-given right to inflict pain and suffering on another in the name of morality."

Gronzy's eyes grow harsh. "Let him without sin cast the first stone. The Cold War is dead, yet the United States, by virtue of strong economy and military might continues to police the world, deciding whether the policies of another nation are morally sound. Like the school bully, America balls its fist, threatening violence, all in the name of peace. As the most powerful hypocrite in the world, the United States arms the oppressed, until they become the oppressors. Israel, South Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Taiwan—how many more must die before the United States realizes that the threat of violence only leads to more violence, that tyranny, disguised by the best of intentions, is still tyranny?"

The eyes soften. "And now the world bears witness to a new type of threat. Possessing the most sophisticated fighting force in history is not enough. The domination of space is not enough. The implementation of their Missile Defense Shield is not enough. Now, the capitalists have a new weapon, one that changes the rules of the Nuclear Stalemate. Why does the United States continue to test these weapons and deny responsibility? Does the American president take us all for fools? Do his excuses soothe the frail nerves of the Australian and Malaysian people? Where will the next detonation occur? China? The Russian Federation? Or perhaps the Middle East, where three American aircraft carriers and their fleets are poised to strike all in the name of justice.

"The Russian Federation joins China and the rest of the world in condemning these new threats of violence. Today, we state this warning, and let me be perfectly clear, lest our own morality be judged. We will not live in fear. We will no longer buckle to the bully tactics of the West. The next Pure-Fusion detonation shall be the last, for we will interpret this as a declaration of Nuclear War!"

The assembly erupts in Pandemonium, the protests of the United States delegates going unheard as Victor Gronzy's security guards rush him out of the building.

Back to the story… 

Lilith shuts off the screen. "Gronzy's message was a warning to the world, despite his words, within two weeks, he was prepared to launch an arsenal of Nuclear Weapons at the United States, also in the name of peace."

"Gronzy was a hypocrite, he ignored the needs of his own people, defying a lot of human rights laws," Katie points out.

"Yes, that is true," Lilith, sighs. "He even blamed the whole thing on the Communists, and executed hundreds of people."

"Busiest week I've ever had since the Holocaust ended," Jess says.

"The church and other's blame the evil of the world on my influence, even going as so far to suppressing the sacred feminine, the very root of all religion," Lilith says. "But it is not my job to influence other's to do evil, I only guard the dead, and torture those who did wrong in their lives 10 times over, believe me when I say that I didn't want any of this to happen."

"So, uhh, why am I here?" Katie asks.

"You must be told of what is transpiring in the Duelist Dimension tournament, it isn't usually my place to interfere with the light's doings, but I have no choice," Lilith says with a sigh. "Do you know anything about Doppelgangers?"

"Yes, they're supposed to be evil clones," Katie says.

"There is an extremely powerful Doppelganger in the Duelist Dimension, you've seen her, a woman shrouded in darkness, well, woman might not be the right word," Lilith says. "It takes on the form of whoever the hero of that dimension is, in this case, its your world, originally, the hero was another, someone else carrying a Millennium Item, the Eye to be exact, and then you came along."

"Me? I'm the hero of this dimension?" Katie asks.

"When the darkness begins to spread, two opposite forces are chosen, usually the hero has someone in their family who did something to save the world at one time or another," Lilith says. "Such as your father, and to a certain extent, the father of the hero before you."

"Who was it before me?" Katie asks.

"Kaiba, Ariel Kaiba," Lilith answers. "I cannot tell you the exact details, and I'm afraid that our time here is almost up, but I will tell you this, if you succeed Doppler will fall for good, the fate of the world, no, the universe, is in your hands, Katie."

Katie nods.

"Its time to go," Jess says, and opens a portal, the two enter, and Katie turns to get one last look at Lilith.

"Remember, Katie," Lilith says as they disappear.

**000**

The two return to the room with tapestries.

"I have one more thing to give you before you leave, Katie," Jess says, and reaches into her robe, and takes out a Duel Monsters card, and hands it to Katie. "To defeat Doppler, you must get the third of the Lux Gods, this will help you on your way."

_Saint Goddess of the Tide?_ Katie wonders, and then wakes up.

**000**

Back in her room, Katie looks around, wondering if all of that was real, she sees the card Jess gave her lying on the table.

The virtual sun rises, and Katie looks out at it.

_If the fate of the Universe is in my hands, I must make sure I am successful,_ she thinks, looking at the Millennium Puzzle. _Yami, you and I have our work cut out for us._

**000**

_**Phew, long chapter.**_

_**I hope this one got you thinking about how the world is run, for that was my intention.**_

_**Also, I don't own the little sequence back there, that I borrowed from a book by Steve Alten.**_

_**Anyway, next chapter, its finally Darren's turn to duel again, and he's faced with a challenge from the terrors of children's nightmares. Don't miss, "Upstart Goblin."**_


	12. Upstart Goblin

Welcome fans to chapter 12, last chapter things got a little bizarre, but now things are relatively back to normal, if you could call this normal that is.

_Heed my warnings, and this world might turn for the better after all._

_Also a new feature is added, the card of the chapter._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**000**

_**This tournament is honestly beginning to creep me out.**_

_**After Katie told us about her dream last night, and what she saw, I ran into someone I hoped to never see again.**_

_**Before I moved to Dommino City, I lived in Chicago, not the easiest place to live in. Anyway, there was this one guy in my neighborhood who was always bullying me around, this was before I was into Duel Monsters, and I wasn't too great of a fighter, so I had no chance to stand up to him.**_

_**When I moved to Japan, I met Katie Motou, she taught me all about Duel Monsters, and soon I was able to make my own deck, and hopefully put the memory of the bully behind me.**_

_**I guess I was wrong.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 12**

**UPSTART GOBLIN**

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"Wait, your saying that the Grim Reaper came to you, and brought you to Hell to meet with the Devil?" Wendy asks.

"Yes," Katie says. "And my suspicions where correction, something evil is in this tournament."

"Then what should we do?" Darren asks.

"Probably our best bet is to finish this tournament, and then we can deal with this, Doppler," Katie says, and her friends nod. "Well, lets go, I'm sure you want to find a duel, Darren."

"Yeah, I gotta find a duel if I want to help you," Darren says, and runs out of the hotel.

"I wonder if he realizes that he forgot his Duel Disk," Renee wonders, and the three duelists chase after their friend.

**000**

They walk around the small town, Darren trying to find an opponent, but there aren't many duelists around.

"Oh come on, there has to be one other duelist in this crummy town," he grumbles.

"Don't worry Darren, you'll find an opponent soon," Katie says.

"Yeah, but I wish it was…" Darren grumbles, he wasn't watching where he was going, and runs right into someone. "Sorry, won't happen… oh crap."

Standing before him is a bulky looking teenager wearing a torn t-shirt and jeans, who scowls down at Darren.

"Well if it isn't the runt from back home," he growls.

"McBride, there must've been a paperwork error when Pegasus invited you," Darren growls.

"Who's this?" Katie asks, looking at the towering bully.

"This Neanderthal happens to be Vincent McBride, my old nemesis from back in Chicago," Darren growls. "I couldn't defend myself then, but now I can, McBride, I challenge you to a duel!"

"Fine," McBride says, activating his duel disk. "I'll choose as my deckmaster a little guy named Second Goblin."

A short balding fiend wearing a green shirt and an eye patch appears.

"And I'll choose," Darren says, looking through his deck. "Cliff the Trap Remover!"

The Dark Scorpion's master of disbarment appears next to him, brandishing a dagger.

_Good thing I keep extra copies of the Dark Scorpions in my side deck,_ Darren thinks, taking a card out of his side deck, and placing it in his real deck.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"_Darren, take my advice and be careful, when your facing an opponent who is stronger than you, you must use cunning to win,"_ Cliff tells him.

"_Thanks, what can your deckmaster ability do anyway?"_ Darren asks.

Cliff whispers something in his ear, and he smiles.

"Alright runt, I'm going first," McBride says, and draws. "To start things off, I summon my Coach Goblin (1200/1000), in defense mode!"

An ugly little Goblin appears crouching in defense mode.

"To finish things off, I'll place one card face down, and in my end phase, I'll place my Goblin Calligrapher at the bottom of my deck with my Coach Goblin's special ability, and draw one card," McBride says, and does so. "Your move, runt."

Darren draws. _This might come in handy_, he thinks, looking at the monster card. "I'll place one card face down as well, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

McBride draws. "I summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0), in attack mode!" He says, and a group of Goblins carrying clubs appears. "Now attack his face down monster with Goblin Rush!"

The goblins charge at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Mystic Tomato.

"Thanks, now I can summon a dark monster from my deck with 1500 attack points or fewer to the field," Darren says, and takes out a card. "Here's a gal who might appeal to you, the lovely Meanae the Thorn (1000/1800)!"

The beautiful female member of the Dark Scorpions appears with a crack of her whip.

"And of course, since you attacked, your monster switches to defense mode," Darren says.

"You would like that, wouldn't you runt, Second Goblin, do your thing!" McBride says with a chuckle.

The short goblin jumps up from his spot next to the bully, and blows a whistle; the Goblins jump up, and remain in attack position.

"As long as Second Goblin is my Deckmaster, none of my monsters can switch positions, now I believe it's your turn."

Darren draws, and looks at the card. "Alright, I'll give Meanae the equip card Dark Scorpion Shiv!" He says, and a dagger appears in the thief's hand, raising her attack to 1700.

"That's not enough to defeat my Goblins," McBride points out.

"True," Darren says. "But I'll place two cards face down, and end my turn."

McBride draws. "Goblin Attack force, destroy Meanae the Thorn with Goblin Rush!" He commands, and the goblins charge at the thief.

"Hold it right there, activate trap card, Magic Arm Shield, this takes your Coach Goblin, and forces your monster to attack him instead of Meanae!" Darren counters, and the small goblin gets caught by the mechanized shield, and destroyed by the attack force.

"Smart move, your turn," McBride says.

Darren draws. "Alright, I activate the spell Card of Sanctity, so we both can draw until we have 6 cards," he says, and they both do so. "Now, I summon, Don Zaloog (1400/1500) to the field in attack mode!"

The eye-patched leader of the Dark Scorpions appears with a twirl of his rapiers.

"Now, I activate this spell card, Reinforcements for the Exiles, by discarding 2 cards from my hand…"

He discards another Dark Scorpion Shiv, and a Dark Scorpion Sneak Attack.

"I can take two warrior monsters out of my deck, and put them in my hand!"

He looks through his deck, and takes out a Gorg the Strong and Cliff the Trap Remover.

"And now, for the combo that will defeat you, I activate the spell card, Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, since Don Zaloog is on the field, I can summon all of the members of the Dark Scorpion Gang from my hand to the field! So first, welcome the youngest member, Chick the Yellow!"

A teenager with spiky blonde hair, and carrying a giant mallet appears.

"The master of disarment, Cliff the Trap Remover!"

A monster identical to his Deckmaster appears next.

"Hey, that's not fair, he never left your Deckmaster spot!" McBride exclaims.

"There's no rule against having more than one copy of this particular monster, is there?" Darren says. "And finally, the strength and endurance, Gorg the Strong!"

The bald-headed strong man appears carrying a large mace.

"And before I do anything else, I place one more card face down, and activate the trap card, Dark Scorpion Combination!"

His trap card flips up, and the 5 thieves ready their weapons.

"With this trap card, my 5 monsters can attack you directly for a total of 2000 points of damage!"

The 5 thieves charge at McBride, and his life points fall to 2000.

"Fine, but you activated my face down card, Just Desserts, so you lose 2500 life points!" McBride groans, and Darren's life points fall to 1500.

"Fine, but my monster's abilities are all activated, first, Chick returns your Goblins to your hand."

The Goblin Attack force returns to McBride's hand.

"Now Don makes you discard a card from your hand."

The thief tosses a dagger, and pierces the Goblin Attack force card.

"Then, Cliff and Gorg discard 3 cards off the top of your deck!"

The two thieves grab 3 cards from McBride's deck.

"And finally Meanae returns the Dark Scorpion Combination card to my hand, which I'll place face down, to end my turn."

"Wow, Darren has this duel in the bag," Wendy says.

"I wouldn't count McBride out yet, he probably has a back-up plan," Katie says.

McBride draws. "I summon Giant Orc in attack mode!" He says, and a freaky looking monster carrying a bone for a club appears. "Now, attack Chick the Yellow with Bone Smash!"

"Hold it, I'm going to use my deckmaster's special ability, by sacrificing my face down card…" Darren says, and his face down card, which is revealed to be an extra Mustering of the Dark Scorpions. "I can negate your attack, and deal half of your monsters attack points as damage to your life points!"

McBride groans as his life points fall to 900.

"Your move," he says.

Darren draws. "Alright, instead of using my trap again, I'll give Chick the spell card Hidden Pass to the Treasures, so he can attack you directly!"

Chick grins, and jumps up, and strikes McBride from behind, and knocks him to the ground as his life points fall to 0.

"Not bad, Darren," McBride says, getting up slowly. "Not bad at all," he says, and walks off.

"Wow, I won!" Darren says, looking at his duel disk, his points go up to 4. "Only 6 more to go."

**000**

Dark Scorpion Shiv and Dark Scorpion Sneak Attack were created by Cyber Commander, all credit goes to him.

_As far as I know, Magic Arm Shield is a card from the show used mostly by Joey Wheeler._

**000**

Reinforcements for the Exiles 

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of Don Zaloog shaking hands with the leader of the Exiled Force. This card can only be activated when a monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name, or is named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover" is on your field. Discard up to two cards to add the same number of warrior monsters to your hand.**_

**000**

_**Deckmasters:**_

_**Cliff the Trap Remover-Trap Barrier: Send one spell or trap card on your side of the field to negate an attack, and deal half the attack of the attacking monster as damage to your opponent's life points.**_

_**Second Goblin-Attack Orders: As long as this monster is your deckmaster, your monsters cannot change their battle positions.**_

**000**

**Card of the Chapter:**

**Dark Scorpion Combination**

Darren: Yeah, I know the Dark Scorpions are an underused tribe of monsters, but I find them to be useful, especially with this trap card. 

_**When used the right way, it can leave your opponent completely defenseless, and its reusable thanks to Meanae's special ability.**_

**000**

McBride's Goblin Deck 

_**Vincent McBride has always been a bully, Darren is far from the first kid he's ever bullied, and he's certainly not the last, but if you can beat him in a duel, you've earned his respect.**_

_**He's chosen Goblins because they remind him of himself, strong, dangerous, and not easily messed with.**_

_**He also has a special monster that he only uses on a special occasion, if he and Darren ever duel again, he might bring it out.**_

**000**

_**Well, that chapter is done, and things are starting to heat up.**_

_**Next chapter, Katie and her friends find themselves in an old abandoned castle, and waiting for them is a Spirit Eliminator, the dreaded Earl of Demise. Can Katie win against this demon lord? Find out in, "Bark of Dark Ruler."**_


	13. Bark of Dark Ruler

_Well here we are, chapter 13, unlucky number 13, so I thought it would be fitting to have a chapter with a darker theme._

_Namely demons._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**000**

_**This tournament keeps getting weirder and weirder by the second, and would it kill them to give me some warning?**_

_**I've now learned that there are 10 special duelists in this tournament, hired by Doppler for one purpose…**_

_**To defeat the duelists and trap them here forever as their favorite monsters.**_

_**Now that I'm in one of these duels, well, I better be careful.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 13:**

**BARK OF DARK RULER**

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Katie and her friends have left the old town far behind by now.

"This place seems almost serene," Renee says, looking at the field around them.

"Yeah," Katie says, looking around. "Too serene if you ask me."

All of a sudden, the field gives way to a scorched wasteland, and in front of them, a huge castle rises out of the landscape, perched on a cliff overlooking a lake of lava.

"Well, that's something you don't see everyday," Darren says.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it out," Katie says, and they walk in the direction of the old castle.

**000**

"Excellent, they are going just where I hoped they would," Doppler says. "Servant, contact the Earl, and have him know that he will have guests soon."

"Yes ma'am," a servant says, and runs off.

_This will be most interesting, lets see how Katie can fair against the powers of the Occult,_ Doppler thinks to herself.

**000**

The 4 duelists walk through the castle, and emerge into a room where a hideous looking nobleman is sitting on a throne, a rapier resting at his side, a pot of tea is sitting on a nearby table.

"Hello, you must be Katie Motou and company," he says in a British accent. "Care for a spot of tea?"

"Umm, sure," Katie says, trying to be polite.

While they drink their tea, the nobleman looks them over.

"Such youthful beauty, something I will never have again," the demon says. "I apologize for being so direct, but I forgot to introduce myself, I am the Earl of Demise."

"As in the Duel Monsters card?" Katie says surprised.

"Yes, I am what's known as a Spirit Eliminator, unfortunately after your friend Ariel defeated the Buster Blader, we have been ordered to step up our game," the Earl says. "I will not force you into a duel, I am too much of a gentleman to do that, but I will ask you for one."

"Sure, it wouldn't hurt," Katie says, and activates her duel disk.

"Very well," the Earl says, and raises his arm, a demonic looking duel disk with a pentagram covering the Life point counter appears on his arm. "But the rules are different here," he says, pointing at Katie.

Katie glows, and flinches as her body begins to change. When the light fades, she looks exactly like the Dark Magician Girl, with the Millennium Puzzle still resting around her neck.

"Here, your ka, the monster that defines your very soul is your deckmaster, and we begin with 8000 life points instead of 4000. In this duel, you have to win in order to return to your human form, if you are to lose, you are trapped as the Dark Magician Girl, for eternity," the Earl says. "But if you win, you will be allowed to leave this castle, and gain 2 Duel Points."

"Well, now I don't have any choice," Katie says, and the Millennium Puzzle activates, and Yami takes over, Katie activates her duel disk, and the Earl does the same.

"LETS DUEL!" They say in unison.

"I'll go first," Katie says, and draws. "I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

The Earl draws. "I'll place one card face down as well, and summon Headless Knight (1450/1700), in defense mode!" He says, and a knight without a head appears, kneeling in defense mode. "Your move."

Katie draws. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode, now destroy his Knight with Black Magic attack!"

The Spellcaster blasts away the knight.

"Fine, but you activated my trap card, Zorc's Revenge, now every time you destroy one of my fiends, you lose 500 life points," the Earl says, and Katie's life points fall to 7500. "And on top of that, I am now allowed to add a fiend monster to my hand as long as its level is lower than that of the monster you destroyed."

He takes out his deck, and selects a card.

"Your move," Katie says.

The Earl draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and activate the Dark Door to end my turn," he says.

Katie draws. "I sacrifice my face down monster to summon my Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900), in attack mode!" She says, and a Spellcaster that looks sort of like the Dark Magician, but is wearing green robes. "Now, destroy his face down monster!"

The monster is revealed as a Night Assailant.

"Since your Magician is resistant to monster effects, I'll destroy your Skilled Dark Magician," The Earl says, and the magician is destroyed. "And don't forget, Night Assailant was a fiend monster…"

"So I lose 500 life points, I know, I know," Katie says, and her life points fall to 7000. "Its your move."

The Earl draws. "I'll set one more monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Katie draws. "Hmm, I play Monster Reborn to revive my Skilled Dark Magician," Katie says, and the Spellcaster appears again. "Now, I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "And now I activate my Harpie's Feather Duster, which will destroy all of your magic and trap cards!"

The Dark Door and Zorc's Revenge are blown away.

"Now Chaos Command Magician, destroy his face down monster!"

The magician blows away the face down monster that is revealed to be a Nuvia the Wicked.

"Ookay, now Skilled Dark Magician, direct attack!"

The Spellcaster blasts the Earl of Demise, and his life points fall to 6100.

"Impressive, I'll give you that," the fiendish nobleman says. _But you've played right into my hands,_ he thinks, and takes a card out of his deck.

"Your turn," Katie says.

The Earl draws. "I remove from the game, the three fiends you just destroyed, to summon the mighty Dark Necrofear (2200/2800), in attack mode!"

A fiendish woman with blue skin, carrying a broken baby doll appears.

"Now attack her Chaos Command Magician!" The Earl commands, and the fiendish woman sends a blast from her eyes at the magician, and is countered by a magical blast, and blown away. "And now, since Dark Necrofear is in my graveyard, I can activate this card!"

He opens his field slot, and slips a card into it. Suddenly black magic surrounds the entire field, freaky eyes open up around them, and a huge black castle appears behind the Earl of Demise.

"Welcome to, the **_Dark Sanctuary_**!"

"This place again," Katie mutters.

"Oh that's right Pharaoh, this isn't your first time in the Dark Sanctuary, who was the last duelist to use it against you, Bakura I believe?" The Earl says. "I hope you can remember what it does, Yami, otherwise you and your little Hikari are in big trouble."

"Oh, I see," Wendy says. "The Earl of Demise is using what most duelists call an Occult deck, it usualy involves using fiend and zombie monsters with dangerous abilities, the duelist that made it most famous was Bakura, who dueled Katie's father in the Battle City finals with one, other than him, I think only one other duelist has ever been sucessful with an Occult deck, I forget his name, but he competed in a tournament somewhere in the south atlantic a year or two after Battle City."

"Now, I'll place one card face down, and activate my second Dark Door card, to end my turn," the Earl says, and a dark door appears on the field.

_Now if I could only remember what the Dark Sanctuary does, my memory of Battle City is sketchy at best, but I'm sure its something dangerous, _Katie thinks as she draws. "I'll sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician to bring out my Dark Magician!"

The purple-robed spellcaster appears.

"I'll place one card face down, and since that was a special summon, I will summon my White Magician Pikeru (1200/0), in defense mode!"

"Now Dark Magician, direct attack!" Katie commands, and the spellcaster swings his staff, and sends a blast at the Earl.

"So predictable, go, Ghost of the Dark Sanctuary!" The Earl says, and the Dark Magician gasps as a ghost bursts out of his back, and strikes Katie, her life points fall to 5750, the Earl's rises to 7250.

The Dark Magician gives Katie a look to show he's sorry.

"What happened?" Katie demands of the fiendish nobleman.

"Simple, your Dark Magician was posessed by the Ghost of the Dark Sanctuary," the Earl says. "Once per turn, I can choose a monster as a target, and if that monster attacks, you lose life points equal to half of its attack points, and I gain the same amount.

"I believe its still your turn."

_This guy is just as bad as Bakura, and the worst part is that I don't have anyway to destroy the Ghost of the Dark Sanctuary, to do that I'll have to draw some card to get rid of the Dark Sanctuary itself,_ Katie thinks. "I'll end it then."

"Wendy, do you think Katie can win?" Darren asks.

"I don't know," Wendy admits. "She'll have to figure out someway to get rid of the Dark Sanctuary, or its ghost, and unless she has a card that can do that, she might be in trouble."

"Its my draw," the Earl says and draws a card. "I summon Sangan (1000/600), in defense mode!"

The small three-eyed fiend appears.

"But he won't be staying long, I must sacrifice him to maintain the Dark Sanctuary!"

The fiend vanishes, and is sucked into the Dark Sanctuary.

"Now I'll place one more card face down, and activate my trap card, Destiny Board!"

A Oujia Board appears on the field, the selector moves for a second, and stops on an F, a spectral letter F appears over it.

"And its your move, Katie."

Katie draws. _Okay, this will get rid of the Ghost, since its an equip card, lets hope this works, _she thinks. "I'll set one card face down, and attack you directly with my Chaos Command Magician!"

_She didn't pick the posessed monster, like it will matter,_ the Earl thinks. "Go trap card, Dark Spirit of the Silent, which will force your Dark Magician to attack!"

The Dark Magician fires a blast, and the ghost starts to burst out from his back.

"Go trap card, World Supression, which negates the effect of any of your field spells for one turn!" Katie counters, and the ghost fades away as the Dark Magician blasts the Earl, and his life points fall to 4750. "And I'll end my turn there."

"Now, I can activate Spirit Message I!" The Earl says, and the Ouija board's selector moves around, and lands on the letter "I", and a spectral letter eye appears.

He draws. "I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200), in defense mode."

A woman with long purple hair appears.

"Now, I'll sacrifice her for my field card!"

The monster gets sucked into the field card.

"Which lets me add a monster with low defense to my hand," the Earl says, and takes a card out of his deck. "Your move."

Katie draws. _Still not the card I need, and its too risky to attack right now,_ Katie thinks. "I'll pass."

"I activate Spirit Message N!" The Earl says, and a spiritual letter N appears on it. He draws. "I summon the Portrait's Secret (1300/1800), in attack mode!"

A ghostly looking painting appears.

"And I'll sacrifice it to maintain the Dark Sanctuary!"

The monster gets sucked into the sanctuary.

"Your move."

Katie draws. _Come on, where's that card?_ she thinks. "I'll pass."

"Now I'll activate Spirit Message A!" The Earl says, and a spiritual letter A appears.

"Hold on, you have 5 m/t cards active, you can't finish your Destiny Board!" Katie exclaims.

The Earl laughs. "The Dark Sanctuary has another effect, as long as its active, I can use my monster slots to play magic and trap cards," the Earl says with a laugh.

"Oh no," Renee says.

"Have faith Renee, the duel's not over until the last card's played," Wendy says.

The Earl draws. "I summon Malice Doll of Demise (1600/1700)!"

A freaky doll appears.

"And I sacrifice it for the Dark Sanctuary to end my turn."

Katie looks at her deck nervously. _If there ever was a time for a miracle draw, right now would be it,_ she thinks, and draws. "I activate Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, then discards 2. "Now I activate, Dark Magic Attack!"

"What?" The Earl says, suprised.

"Since I have the Dark Magician on the field, this destroys all your magic and trap cards!" Katie says, and the Dark Magician blasts away the Destiny Board cards, Dark Door, and the Dark Sanctuary. "And now, my monsters can attack you directly!"

The two spellcasters blast the Earl, and his life points fall to 0.

"Good show, lass, good show," the Earl says, and motions, Katie's duel points go up to 5. "Follow this door, and you will exit the castle," he says, and a door appears behind him.

The 4 friends walk out, back into the virtual sunlight.

_This tournament is going to be harder than I thought,_ Katie thinks.

**000**

_The Dark Sanctuary was used by Bakura in the Battle City finals._

**000**

_**Card of the Chapter:**_

_**Destiny Board**_

_The Earl: A very powerfull card to use when your sporting an occult deck like mine, especialy when it includes the Dark Sanctuary. As long as your opponent doesn't destroy it, you can win in a matter of 5 turns._

_Though I don't recomend that rookies use this card, but its up to you._

**000**

_**Well, that chapter is done, and things are getting darker.**_

_**Next chapter, our heroes leave the castle, only to come across another member of the Kaiba family. Read as Wendy takes on her younger cousin in, "Harpie Girl."**_


	14. Harpie Girl

_Well, here's chapter 14, enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**000**

_**As you might already know, I'm Wendy Wheeler, daughter of Joey and Mai Wheeler.**_

_**Most people know my uncle Seto Kaiba, and maybe his daughter Ariel, but he has another daughter, Lauren, who takes more after my mom than anything else.**_

_**  
Now that I'm dueling her...**_

_**Well, lets just say that this isn't going to be easy.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 14:**

**HARPIE GIRL**

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After they leave the castle, the 4 duelists are walking across a land bridge across the lake of lava, heading towards an island in the center.

"Hey Wendy, something's been bugging me," Renee says. "How did your aunt get married to Seto Kaiba? It was my understanding that your father and Kaiba weren't exactly the best of friends."

"Its really a combination of two events," Wendy says. "The first one was a few years after the Pharoh's Memory incident, Kaiba participated in a tag team tournament in New York City, one that my aunt happened to also be competing in the tournament, and they where assigned to a team together. As it turned out, there's an extremely rare card that works by fusing together both their favorite monsters, somehow this sparked a relationship between the two that they kept secret for a few years, until one day, to be exact, December 21st, 2012."

"I remember hearing about that in history class, that was when the world was almost destroyed in a Nuclear War," Renee says.

"Few people know what really transpired that day, two duelists showed up in Dommino City, and demanded a duel against Kaiba, my dad then stepped in, and challenged them to a tag team match, suprisingly," Wendy says. "Their opponents had some dangerous monsters out on the field, they specialized in a fusion strategy, and once Kaiba took about 5000 points of damage in one attack, and it all but knocked him out, at that moment it looked like it was all over, and humanity was doomed. Aunt Serenity happened to be watching, and ran up to Kaiba, something about her presence revived him, and he was able to continue on.

"Dad wasn't too happy about this, since it was obvious that Kaiba had fallen in love with his sister, but the duel was still on, and when Kaiba was about to lose, Joey protected him with his monster.

"They eventualy managed to win against the two duelists, and dad finally earned Kaiba's respect for that, and within a few months, Serenity Wheeler and Seto Kaiba where married, dad was Kaiba's best man at the wedding. After awhile, Ariel and her twin brother Paul where born, and the Kaiba legacy lives on."

"Wait, Ariel has a brother?" Katie asks.

"Yeah, Paul Kaiba, he heads a small off-shoot of the Kaiba Corperation, I think he uses mostly burn cards," Wendy says. "Oh, and she also has a little sister named..."

They reach the island, which seems to be a clearing surrounded by trees, the sounds of birds can be heard around them.

"This place looks familiar," Wendy says.

There's a small giggle, and a figure does a perfect summersault, and appears in front of them. She's a small girl with short blonde hair, wearing a Japanese schoolgirl's outfit.

"Hello cousin," the girl says with a giggle.

"Lauren? What are you doing here?" Wendy asks.

"I got invited, duh," Lauren says, raising her duel disk, she's already at 8 Duel Points. "How about a duel right now, Wendy?"

"Fine, but don't expect me to go easy on you because your only 10," Wendy says as she activates her duel disk. "I'll choose as my deckmaster, my Command Knight!"

A woman in ceremonial armor appears next to her.

"And I'll pick, my Birdface!" Lauren says, and a humanoid bird appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Wendy says, and draws, I'll place one card face down, and summon Ancient Master Yoshi (800/2000 + 300), and thanks to my deckmaster, he gains 300 attack points, in defense mode!"

An old samurai master appears, kneeling in defense mode.

"And I'll end with one card face down."

Lauren draws. "I'll also place one card face down, and I'll envoke the effect of my deckmaster, by discarding two cards from my hand, I can add any monster with Harpie in its name from my deck to my hand, as long as I show it to you."

She takes a card out of her deck, showing it as a Harpie Lady 1.

"And since I discarded my Roc From the Valley of Haze, I can shuffle it back into my deck!"

She puts the card in her deck, and it shuffles.

"And I'll end with one monster in defense mode."

"Harpies, interesting," Katie says. _And I don't doubt that Lauren has some of her aunt's best cards in her deck,_ she thinks.

Wendy draws. "I'll place one more card face down, and end my turn."

Lauren draws. "I place one card face down as well, and play Mystical Space Typhoon on your first face down card!"

A storm blows away the Book of Tao card.

"And I'll end with one monster in defense mode."

Wendy draws. "I'll set a monster in defense as well, and end."

Lauren draws. "A third card face down, and thats all for me."

Wendy draws. "I summon Usagi Warrior (1500/1200), in attack mode!" She says, and a Hare carrying a katana appears. "Now attack her first face down monster!"

The monster is a small girl with long blonde hair and wings.

"That was my Harpie Girl, is that all?" Lauren asks.

"Yeah," Wendy says.

Lauren draws. "I flip summon my Harpie Lady 1 (1300/1400 + 300)!" She says, and a bird-woman with long red hair appears. "Now I normal summon my Harpie Lady 3 (1300/1400 + 300)!"

Another bird-woman with spiky blue hair appears with a screech.

"Harpie Lady 1, destroy the Usagi Warrior!"

The Harpie charges, and swipes at the hare, making it explode in a burst of pixles.

"And that'll be it for me."

Wendy draws. "I summon Sashia the Samurai Squire (1700/1500 + 800), in attack mode!" She says, and a female samurai carrying a bow and arrow appears. "Now attack Harpie Lady 1!"

The girl draws an arrow, and launches it at Harpie Lady 1.

"Go trap card, Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation!" Lauren counters, and the monsters rise up, and form a bird thing, and the attack stops.

"Fine, your move," Wendy says.

Lauren draws. "I'll activate the spell card, Jar of Winds, by removing a wind monster in my graveyard from the game, I can draw 3 cards!"

She does so.

"Now, I'm going to activate a field card, tell me cousin, have you ever read the Inferno?"

Wendy gulps, having a feeling she knows what's comming.

"Well, in one section, Dante describes the place in Hell where those who are violant against themselves are punished for eternity, and I happen to have a field card right here that ties in with it, I activate, the Forest of the Suicides!"

A forest appears around them, the trees are bare and covered with thorns, hideous faces can be seen on each tree.

"We'll get to its effect in a moment, but first, all my harpies gain 400 attack points."

Both harpie's attack points go up to 2000.

"Now, I can summon from my hand and deck 3 monsters with Harpie in their name, so I'll first summon Harpie Lady 2 (1300/1400 + 700)."

A bird-lady with short red hair appears.

"Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (1200/600 + 2000)!"

A cute red dragon appears.

"And my Harpie Lady Sisters by discarding my Elegant Egotist to the graveyard (1950/2100 + 700)!"

Three bird-women appears.

"Now I activate the spell card, Harpie Lady Pheonix Formation, and I'll destroy both of your monsters, and deal you a total of 3600 points of damage!"

The harpies form a pheonix, and blast into Wendy's monsters, and then her life points fall to 300.

"I'll end my turn by activating the trap card Aqua Chorus, giving my Harpie Ladies an additional 500 attack points."

"Katie, do you think Wendy can win?" Darren asks.

"To be honest, I'm not sure, harpie decks can be extremely hard to defeat, and Lauren clearly knows how to use one well," Katie answers. "But she might have a chance, if she can get rid of that field card."

_If there ever was a time for a miracle, now would be it,_ she thinks and draws. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" She says, and they both draw until they have 6 cards. "Now I activate, Mystical Space Typhoon, so say good bye to your field card!"

The Forest is blown away by a huge wind storm.

"No, and since it was destroyed, all my monsters get shuffled back into my deck!" Lauren says in shock as her monsters dissapear.

"I thought so, now I'll summon my deckmaster to the field (1200/1900 + 700)!" Wendy says, and the Command Knight moves to the field. "And I'll summon, Mataza the Zapper (1300/800 + 700)!"

The Ronnin in green armor appears.

"Now Mataza, attack her directly with zapping blade attack!"

_No, my face down card only works when my Harpies are in the graveyard, I'm done for! _Lauren thinks in shock as she is slashed at by Mataza.

"And since Mataza can attack twice, I'll finish you off!" Wendy commands, and Mataza slashes at Lauren again, her life points fall to 0. "And that's game!"

"Good duel Wendy," Lauren says, and comes over to her cousin and shakes her hand. "Lets do it again sometime."

"By the way, where did you get that field card?" Wendy asks.

"Oh, a little gift from my sister," Lauren says, and waves good bye as she walks off.

"Well, she's a very promissing duelist," Katie says, still a little shaken by the field card.

"Well, she is a Kaiba after all," Wendy points out, and the 4 friends continue on their journey.

**000**

_Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation and Pheonix Formation where used by Mai in the Waking the Dragons series._

**000**

_**Woods of the Suicides**_

_**Field Spell**_

_**Image of a group of thorny trees with harpies feeding on their leaves. As long as this card is active, all monsters with "Harpie" in its name gain 400 attack points. During your turn, you can special summon any monsters with "Harpie" in their name to the field for every open spot you have, you can summon Harpie Lady Sisters with this effect by discarding Elegant Egotist to the graveyard. When this card is destroyed, the user must shuffle all monsters on their field back into their deck.**_

_**(This card is based off of the Inferno, the Woods of the Suicides is part of the Seventh Circle of Hell.)**_

**000**

_**Lauren's Harpie Deck**_

_**Lauren Kaiba takes a lot after her aunt Mai, she uses several of the Harpie cards, including some that Mai never used.**_

_**She has a lot of rare cards, like Woods of the Suicides and the Harpie Lady Formation cards.**_

_**She also has a very powerfull ritual monster waiting in her deck, if you want to see it, you'll have to wait.**_

**000**

_**Well, that chapter was done fast, oh well.**_

_**Next chapter, Katie and co. travel into a huge city where they come across an old friend from GX season two. Who is it? I'll give you a clue, the chapter title is, "D-Time."**_


	15. DTime

_Well, season 2 of GX is into full swing._

_So this chapter we're having a guest star, lets give a welcome to Aster Phoenix._

_Also, there's a special guest star in this chapter, other than the one mentioned before, 10 brownie points to whoever can recognize him/her._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, for now. Heck, I don't own anything here but the plot and the carachters I created._

**000**

_**So far in this tournament I've dueled a guy with a B.E.S Deck, and a demon pirate with an ocean deck, not much, but still fairly effective.**_

_**My current opponent is notorious for being a powerfull duelist, at one time having a winning streak of 32 duels in a row, including beating both Zane Truesdale and Jaden Yuki, and I doubt his skill has deminished in the last 15 years.**_

_**For now, lets hope that destiny has my back this time.**_

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**CHAPTER 15:**

**D-TIME**

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Katie and her friends reach the end of the land bridge, before them is a huge city comparable to New York City with huge skyscrapers, though the traffic isn't very heavy.

Once in the city, they pass by a Newstand, where they see a newspaper with the headline "Demon Terrorizes City" on it.

"How much?" Katie asks, looking curiously at the picture of a dark figure shiloetted against the moon.

"Free for tournament guests," the vendor says, and Katie takes the paper, and looks at it.

DEMON TERRORIZES CITY

Last night, there where 5 more reports of duelists being attacked by

a mysterious figured dubbed "The Demon," this unknown vigilante

has only been known to attack duelists with connections to

Industrial Illusions, why these particular duelists are being targeted

is still unkown. The River City police are offering a box of rare

Duel Monsters cards as a reward for information pretaining to the

identity of the demon.

"Anything good?" A voice from behind them says, the 4 friends turn to see a man in a white suit with silver hair that is slightly longer in the back, and with piercing blue eyes.

"Aster Phoenix?" Katie asks, recognizing the man. "What's a hot-shot duelist like you doing here?"

"Dueling of course," Aster said. "I've heard a rumor that you four have been terrorizing the power behind this tournament, any truth to that?"

"Well, we have dueled a few duelists that work for Doppler," Katie says.

"So modest, would you care to join me for lunch, my treat?" Aster asks.

The 4 friends exchange glances before agreeing.

**000**

They stop for lunch at a virtual McDonalds, suprisingly enough, joining them is Victoria Pegasus.

"Miss. Pegasus, shouldn't you be running the tournament?" Wendy asks as they sit down.

"Yes, but my people can take care of it," Victoria says. "So, what do you think of my tournament so far?"

"Its interesting," Katie says, a little weary of the woman.

"To be honest, I'm a little reminded of _The Matrix_," Renee says, picking up her hamburger. "The virtual reality system is telling me that when I put this in my mouth it will be juicy and delecious, with a slight spicy taste from the mustard."

She takes a bite of the hamburger.

"Of course, the only difference is that we are here by our own choice, not unknowingly forced into a dreamworld by machines so they can get power."

"Good point," Victoria says. "Anyway, I'm hosting an exhibition match in this city later tonight at the Arena, and we need another competitor."

"Who do you already have?" Katie asks.

"Me," Aster says, taking a sip of his soda. "After all, who better to compete in this match than one of the world's best duelists?"

"Then why didn't you get Ariel Kaiba?" Katie asks, causing both of them to facefault.

"I happened to be in the neighberhood at the time," Aster says.

"Besides, Ariel is somewhere in the Jungle sector of the Dimension," Victoria says.

**000**

In the Jungle Sector, Ariel and Kisara are walking down the path, when Ariel coughs.

_Funny, I felt like someone was just talking about me,_ she thinks.

**000**

"Anyway, I was wondering if one of you would like to compete?" Victoria asks.

"Sure, I'll give it a go," Renee says.

"Good, go to the Pyramid Arena at 6 o'clock, in the meantime enjoy the sights."

She finishes her lunch, and leaves.

"Hey, good luck tonight," Aster says.

"You too," Renee replies.

After lunch, they part ways.

**000**

Katie is looking at a map of River City. "Maybe we should take a look at the Museum of Dueling History, it might be interesting," she comments.

"Why? Our parents where part of Duel Monsters History?" Wendy points out. "Well, Darren's weren't."

"Who asked you?" Darren snaps.

"There is more to Duel Monsters History than just our parents you know," Katie says, Wendy shrugs, and they walk off.

**000**

After walking around for awhile, the 4 friends finally walk towards center of River City, following the river they come across a huge black pyramid building.

"Welcome to lifelight," Katie mutters.

"Don't even joke about that," Renee says. "I'm already freaked out enough about dueling Aster Phoenix."

Once they enter, Renee is whisked off to the locker rooms, her friends are brought to the V.I.P booth, other than them, there is only Victoria, and two other people.

One of the other's, a woman in a cloak turns to look at Katie, who gets a glimpse of her face.

_Was that Jess?_ She thinks.

The other is a tall man wearing armor similar to Warrior Dai Grephar's, his entire head is covered with a mask, half is black, the other bronze with a single eye, he has an odd grill where his mouth should be.

Victoria stands up with a microphone, and begins to speak. "Welcome duelists and dueling fans, to this special Exhibition Match. In this corner we have the two time National Champion of France, who currently resides in Dommino City Japan, using a deck she calls _Oath to Serve and Protect_, Renee Lords!"

Renee blushes as the spotlight falls on her, she activates her duel disk with a smile.

_Well, this is it, I've wanted to duel the best of the best, and now I've got my chance,_ she thinks.

"And her opponent, one of the greatest duelists to ever grace the Pro League, using a deck he calls _Destiny Call_, the legendary Aster Phoenix!" Victoria says, and the spotlight falls on Aster who waves to the crowd. "Players will shuffle each other's decks, and no cheating."

Renee and Aster meet in the center of the arena, and exchange decks.

"The two-time national champion of France, huh? Well, I'd best be carefull," Aster says while shuffling Renee's deck. "And your deck title, maybe we have something in common after all," he says handing it back.

"You'll find my deck to be more than enough of a challenge," Renee says, taking her deck, and returning Aster's.

The two return to their respective sides of the arena.

"And for a little taste of what's to come when the finals, this duel will take place in a specialized arena that will be chosen at random," Victoria says, and a screen begins flashing, it eventualy stops on an image of a ruined city. "Ahh, intreaging, the**_ City of Fallen Glory_**!"

The city that rises around them most resembles the real-world version of New York City, from _the Matrix_. All the buildings are in ruins, and the arena is placed on an old bridge that looks like it could colapse at any moment.

_"Fate it seems, is not without a sense of irony,"_ Renee thinks, remembering a quote from the Matrix as she activates her duel disk. "I choose as my deckmaster, Guardian Elma!"

The fairy guardian appears next to her.

"And I'll pick, the Destiny Hero-Blade Master," Aster says, and a blue monster with a blade on his arm and a yellow mask appears next to him. "Ladies first, Renee."

"Thanks," Renee says, and draws a card. "I'll start with the spell card Guardian's Treasure, by discarding my 5 cards from my hand, I can draw 2 more cards, and draw 2 cards on each of my draw phases after this."

She discards her hand, and draws 2 cards.

"I'll end by setting one monster in defense mode, and placing this card face down."

Aster draws. "I activate Polymerization, and I'll fuse together the Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinadrix, to form the mighty Elemental Hero Pheonix Enforcer!" He says, and a red and black hero apppears with a long claw for a hand. "Now, attack her face down monster!"

The monster is revealed to be a man carrying a dagger.

"Thanks, that was my Arsenal Summoner, now I can add one monster with "Guardian" in their name to my hand from my deck," Renee says, and takes a card out of her deck.

"I'll end with one face down," Aster says.

Renee draws two cards. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and one card face down to end my turn."

Aster draws, and pauses. "Phoenix Enforcer, attack her face down monster!" He commands, and the hero charges at the face down monster, which is revealed to be Renee's Back-Up Guardna.

"Not only do you lose 100 life points, but thanks to my face down card Destruction Punch, you lose your Enforcer as well," Renee says, and the Phoenix Enforcer bursts into pixles, Aster's life points fall to 3900.

"Fine, you activated my trap card, D-Time, since you destroyed one of my Elemental Heroes, I can add a Destiny Hero to my hand from my deck," Aster says, and takes a card out of his deck. "Now, I activate my Pot of Greed spell card," he continues, and draws 2 cards. "I'll place one card face down, and activate the field card, Clock Tower Prison!"

A castle-like structure appears around them, and a giant clocktower bursts out of the arena floor, right behind Aster.

"I'll end my turn with two more face down cards," Aster says.

_Renee's doing a good job, but I don't doubt that Aster has a plan, after all, the Clock Tower Prison was how he defeated Jaden,_ Katie thinks

"If Renee's not carefull, she'll fall to the lord of the clocktower," Wendy says. "And plus, there's Aster's combo with Doom Lord and Captain Tenacious, we might be in for a long duel."

Renee draws her two cards.

"I'll activate my trap card, Pact of Greed, now we can both draw one card," Aster says, and both he and Renee draw one card off their deck. "And not to mention, since its your turn, the hands of time go forward!" He says, and the hands of the clock turn, and stop on the 8.

"Fine," Renee says, looking over her hand. _My Aitos combo, I can't use it for now, since I don't doubt that he still has that Misfortune card in his deck, oh well, this will have to do,_ she thinks. "I'll equip Back-Up Guardna with the Rod of Silence!"

A blue jewel-encrested staff appears in the demon's hands, its defense goes up to 2700.

"Now I'll summon, my Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in attack mode!"

The mermaid guardian appears.

"And I'll end my turn there," she says.

"Oh, I know all about your Guardian's special ability," Aster says while drawing. "Which is why I won't attack her, I actiave the spell card, D-Spirit, this lets me special summon one Destiny Hero from my hand to the field, and I pick, Doom Lord!"

A demonic hero with a pale bald head surrounded by armor with 3 points appears.

"Now, I can normal summon, Captain Tenacious!"

A shirtless hero with spiky red hair, wearing torn pants, and having weird arm guards appears.

"Oh, and if you where nervous about my face down card, you should be, but not for the reason you thought, I activate the trap card known as Eternal Dread, which will add two clock counters to my Tower, and I'll place one card face down, and activate the special ability of Doom Lord, which removes your Guardian Kay'est from the game for two turns!"

The mermaid vanishes.

"Fine," Renee says, glancing at the card she's had face down all duel.

"Of course, I now have to end my turn," Aster says, and nods to Renee.

Renee draws 2 cards, the clock's hands fall on midnight, and the bell begins tolling.

"Question not who the bell toles for, it tolls for thee," Aster says with a laugh.

"True, but I can now get rid of your monsters," Renee says, and takes a card out of her deck, she shows it, and Aster gasps.

"Lightning Vortex!" He says with a gasp.

"That's right, and to activate it, I'll discard my Celestial sword to the graveyard," she says, and takes the equip card out of her hand, and places it in the graveyard. "Which destroys all face up monsters you have on the field, and I can also activate my trap card, Dicgracefull Chariy, and I'll get back the card I just discarded," she says, and takes her Celestial Sword card back out of her graveyard. Lightning strikes Aster's side of the field, and his monsters are all destroyed.

"This duel isn't over yet," he groans.

"I was just about to get to that, I activate, Card of Sanctity," Renee says, and both of them draw until the have 6 cards. "Now I'll activate Soul Release, and I'll use its effect, and remove Polymerization, D-Time, D-Spirit, Pact of Greed, and Eternal Dread!"

The 5 cards appear above Aster's head, and then vanish.

"Now, I'll I activate the spell card, Dimensional Jar of Greed, I get to remove one card from your graveyard, and draw one card from my deck, but you get to do the same, but you can only remove a monster, so I'll remove your Pot of Greed!"

The symbol of averice appears, and vanishes as well, Renee draws one card.

"Fine, remove the only card you can, Arsenal Summoner," Aster says, the card appears above Renee, and dissapears, Aster draws one card. "I don't see what the point of all this is."

"You're about to find out, I equip Back-Up Guardna with Celestial Sword-Aitos, which raises his attack by 400 for every monster in your graveyard, but that's not why I played it, since I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon this, the signature card of my father, the mighty Guardian Aitos (2500/2000)!" She exclaims, and the fairy guardian appears, dressed in native american clothing. "Now, I use the effect of my Guardna, to transfer the Celestial Sword to Aitos!"

The demon tosses the sword up, and Guardian Aitos catches it.

_"Yami are you sure you want to watch this?"_ Katie asks her spiritual partner.

_"Yeah, we all make mistakes, at least I can sleep piecfully knowing that Renee is on our side,"_ Yami answers.

_"True, but what if we have to duel in the finals?" _Katie asks.

_"Then it would be a battle of honor, I would almost enjoy it, if it didn't mean beating a friend,"_ Yami answers.

_"If it comes to that, then we'll have to make sure that our duel is as honorable as the one you had with Wendy's father during the Duelist Kingdom finals_," Katie replies, and Yami smiles, Yugi had raised his daughter well.

_But I can't help but worry, our job probably won't be over after this, I'll but the journey to save the world has just begun,_ he thinks to himself.

"Now, before I do anything else, I set one monster in defense mode, and flip it up with the Book of Taiyou, which activates the special ability of my Needle Worm #2!" Renee says, and a freaky worm appears, and burrows into Aster's deck, taking out the top 5 cards, which are shown as Sparkman, Clayman, another Polymerization, Bladedge, and then reaches into his fusion deck, and grabs Shining Phoenix Enforcer.

"What, how did it get my Fusion deck as well?" Aster demands of the younger duelist.

"Needle Worm #2 is much more advanced than its cousin, it still discards a total of 5 cards, but they can be from your hand, deck, fusion deck, or graveyard," Renee explains. "Now, I activate my second Soul Release, and remove your Polymerization from the game."

The Polymerization card appears, and vanishes.

"Now, I'll use Aitos' effect, and I go through your graveyard until I reach a magic or trap card, all monsters are removed from the game, and Aitos gains the attack of all removed monsters!" Renee says.

"And since I have no magic and trap cards now..." Aster says, and gasps. "Your fairy has a total of 16,000 attack!"

The souls of his monsters appear in a transparent form, and nod silently as they vanish.

"A good effort, but thanks to my field card..." Aster says.

"I was just about to get to that, I activate the spell card, Trap Booster, by discarding a card from my hand, I can activate World Supression, so you will still take damage," Renee says. "Now Aitos, direct attack!"

Guardian Aitos swings her sword, and slashes at Aster, his life points fall to 0.

"And the winner of this exhibition match is, Renee Lords!" Victoria says, and the crowd cheers.

"Good duel, Renee," Aster says, offering a handshake.

"Same," Renee says, and the two shake hands.

**000**

_Pact of Greed and Eternal Dread will be used later in the second season of GX._

_Trap Booster was used by Zane earlier on._

**000**

_**Dimensional Jar of Greed**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a silver-colored Pot of Greed with a vortex over it. When this card is played, the user can remove one spell or trap card from the opponent's graveyard, and draw one card. The opponent may do the same, but can only remove a monster card.**_

_**Needle Worm #2**_

_**Insect/Effect**_

_**Earth**_

_**750/500**_

_**This monster is a close relative of the Needle worm, some say its more powerful than its relative. FLIP: Discard up to 5 cards from your opponent's deck, hand, or fusion deck.**_

**000**

_**Deckmasters-**_

_**Destiny Hero Blademaster: Destiny Power-By discarding one card from your hand, power up the attack of a Destiny Hero by 400 unfil the end of your turn, this effect can only be used once per turn.**_

**000**

_**Card of the Chapter:**_

**Clock Tower Prison**

**Aster: Yep, its me. Anyway, this card is hard to use at times when your don't use it right, but it can be very powerfull. I just wouldn't recomend it for a novice duelist.**

**While I wasn't able to summon its master this duel, I assure you, I will get another chance.**

**000**

_**Well, that chapter is done, lets do a quick tally of how many points everyone has.**_

_**Katie-5/10**_

_**Wendy-6/10**_

_**Renee-6/10**_

_**Darren-5/10**_

_**Next chapter, its Darren's turn to duel again, and this time he's facing up against another duelist related to someone from the past. Who? I'll give you a clue, the chapter title is, "Insect Princess."**_

_**See yah there.**_


	16. Insect Princess

_The insect world is filled with many fascinating creatures, and many mysteries._

_We'll probably never learn everything about insects, though, since they are constantly changing._

_In Yu-Gi-Oh, there is Weevil Underwood, one of the worst cheaters in the show, but also the only duelist in the original show to use insects._

_Let's wish Darren luck as he faces a relative of this bug duelist._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, for now._

**000**

_**Every duelist has to have a good solid theme. For example, my friend Katie uses spellcasters, monsters that are usually strong, and have some good effects.**_

_**Then there's the type within a type decks, like Wendy's Samurai monsters, or Renee's Guardians, or even my Dark Scorpions and Gravekeeperes.**_

_**The duelist I'm facing right now has a deck focused on the former, but that doesn't make her a weak duelist.**_

**_As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if I can_** **_win right now._**

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 16:**

**INSECT PRINCESS**

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**00000**

Leaving River City far behind, the 4 friends find themselves staring into the dense foliage of the Jungle sector of the Duelist Dimension tournament.

"Well, no other way to go," Katie says with a sigh. "Might as well check it out."

"Wouldn't hurt," Wendy says, and the 4 step onto a path entering the jungle.

Not noticing a dark figure watching them from the treetops.

**000**

"Well, its hopeless, we're lost," Darren says with a sigh.

Wendy's ears perk up suddenly, and she reaches towards her sword at her side, and then drops it to the ground.

"Put your hands up, and walk forward slowly," she says with a sigh.

They walk forward, their arms held up, it takes about 5 seconds for the attack to be completed, but suddenly men burst out of the jungle, surround the 4 duelists, and point their guns at them.

"Who are you?" One of them, her voice unmistakably female, asks. "Do you work for Doppler?"

"N-no," Katie gasps. "We're just duelists."

"If that's what you are, one of you has to duel me, no minion of Doppler can defeat me in a duel!" She exclaims, and activates a duel disk.

"Alright, I'll accept!" Darren says, activating his own duel disk, and takes out his duel disk, looking it over he takes out a monster. "And I'll pick this monsters as my deckmaster, the Dark Scorpion Member, Ari the Magical!"

The robed dark scorpion member with the likeness of Ariel Kaiba appears next to him.

_"Hey kid, you might not exactly be Yugi Motou, but you've got skill, and I can respect that,"_ Ari says with a chuckle.

_Umm, thanks, what does your deckmaster ability do anyway?_ Darren asks.

_"When one of my teammates is targeted by a spell or trap card, I can use my effect to negate or destroy it, and you can draw one card if you want, but it can only be used once per turn,"_ Ari says, and Darren nods.

"And I'll pick, my Insect Princess!" Lina says, and a female insect with butterfly wings apears next to her.

"Okay, well, ladies first," Darren says, motioning to Lina to go first as he draws his first 5 cards.

"Thank you," the girl says, and draws one card. "I'll place one card face down, and set this monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says.

Darren draws. _Okay, its the card Marie gave me, but I can't use her right now, so this will have to do,_ he thinks, and picks another card. "I activate my Cost Down spell card, by discarding one card from my hand, like this Sinister Serpent..." he says, putting the card in his graveyard. "I can downgrade the levels of all monsters in my hand by two for one turn, so I can summon Gorg the Strong (1800/1500), without so much as a sacrifice!"

The bald headed strongman of the Dark Scorpions appears, swinging his mace.

"And I'll chain that with my face down card, DNA Surgery, which changes all monsters into insects!" Lina counters, and Gorg groans as antane grows out of his forhead and two huge moth wings sprouts out of his back.

"Well, that dosen't stop me from attacking, Gorg, hit her face down monster with Scorpion Smash attack!" Darren commands, and Gorg smashes his mace into the face down card.

Suddenly the strongman is entangled in vines, and thrown back to Darren's side of the field, his life points fall to 3800.

"That was my Prickle Fairy (300/2000 + 200), a little too strong for Gorg, I would say," Lina says with a laugh. "Though its ironic, you seem to like some of the same monsters that our leader has in her deck."

_Huh? Only one other duelist on the main curcuit uses the Dark Scorpions in their deck, and that's Ariel Kaiba, that could mean that Ariel leads the resistance, or maybe its just a coincidence,_ Katie thinks.

"I'll end my turn with one card face down," Darren says.

Lina draws. "I'll also place one card face down, and summon this, the mighty Chainsaw Insect (2400/0 + 200), in attack mode!" She says and a huge beetle, with jagged mandibles and a drooling mouth appears.

"A no tribute monster with that many attack points? There has to be a drawback!" Darren says nervously.

"Of course there is, we'll get to that in a moment, first I activate the spell card Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, then discards two. "Now, I'll attack with my Chainsaw Insect, and destroy Gorg!"

The insect charges at Gorg.

"Go trap card, Great Escape!" Darren counters, and Gorg sends out a grappling hook, and swings away from the insect. "This lets him dodge your attacks for one turn."

_"Not bad, for a kid,"_ Ari says with a chuckle.

_Oh come on, you can't be much older than me!_ Darren snaps.

_"In looks, no, but not in reality,"_ Ari says. _"And don't ask my real age, its impolite."_

"Your move Darren," Lina says, and Darren draws. "Hold on, before you do any more, I activate my trap card Greed, now everytime you draw outside of your draw phase, you lose 500 life points."

Darren growls, and looks at the card he just drew. _Well, at least I can use this, _he thinks, and his Sinister Serpent card returns to his hand. "I activate my field card, Temple of Kings!"

An elaborate Egyptian temple appears around them.

_I have half of my combo in my hand, but I have to wait until I get the other card to play it,_ he thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and switch Gorg to defense to end my turn."

Lina draws. "I activate Dark Core, I'll discard one card from my hand to remove Gorg from the game!" She says, and discards a card, a huge black hole begins to form over Gorg.

"I'll activate my Deckmaster's special ability, this will negate your spell card, and I could draw one card, but I'm not going to press my luck with Greed still on the field," Darren says. "And if you want to play any more spell or trap cards, my field spell makes it so you can only play one more."

"Fine, I'll get rid of him the old fashioned way, Chainsaw Insect, finish what you started last turn!" She commands, and the insect charges and destroys Gorg. "Now, you draw one card."

Darren growls as he draws one card, and a golden coin appears then turns into a dagger and hits Darren, he screams as his life points fall to 3300.

"Of course," Wendy says. "Chainsaw Insect might give the user a disadvantage because it makes the opponent draw a card, but that Greed card turns it all around."

"I have to hand it to Lina, she's not a bad duelist," Katie says.

"Your turn, kid," Lina says.

Darren draws. _Well, its not the card I need, but it will do,_ he thinks. "I activate Monster Reborn, and I'll revive Gorg!" He says, and the Strongman of the Dark Scorpions appears. "Now, I flip summon my face down monster, Cliff the Trap Remover!"

The Dark Scorpion's Master of Disarment appears, and then transforms in a manner similar to Gorg.

"Now, I give Gorg the spell card Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, raising his attack points to 2600, and I'll also give him the equip card Fairy Meteor Crush, so he can do damage even when a monster is in defense mode," Darren says, and first a sword appears in Gorg's hand, and then he glows golden. "Now, I'll activate Dark Scorpion Sneak Attack, so Cliff can attack you directly for half of his attack, so Cliff, hit her with Scorpion Slash attack!"

Cliff nods, and slashes at Lina, she gasps as her life points fall to 3400.

"And I'll use his effect, destroying your DNA Surgery trap card, and the protection it has on your monster!"

The trap card bursts into a bunch of pixels, and the monsters return to normal.

"Now Gorg, destroy her Prickle Fairy!" Darren commands, and Gorg smashes the monster to bits, and Lina's life points fall to 2800. "And now, his effect will discard one card off the top of your deck!"

Gorg laughs, and snatches an Insect Queen off of Lina's deck.

"I'll end with one card face down."

**000**

A minion walks nervously up to Doppler, who is watching Marie duel on a screen.

_Well, since Marie's wised up to my plans with Swarm, I can't do that again,_ she thinks as she watches Marie attack the opponent's monster with a Dark Bat.

"Misstress Doppler, we've lost Katie and her friends," the minion says.

"You mean they're out of the tournament?" Doppler asks.

"No, we can't find them, last time we checked they entered the Jungle sector, and then something happened that..." he starts, and then his head explodes.

_First Ariel Kaiba, then Lina Silverheart, now those 4, the resistance is getting all the best duelists they can find to try and beat me,_ she thiniks, and calls to another minion. "Get someone in here to clean this up!"

**000**

Lina draws. "I summon my Petite Moth (300/200 + 200), in attack mode!" she says, and a small green caterpiller appears onto the field. "And now, I'll equip it with the Cocoon of Evolution, in defense mode (0/2000 + 200)!"

A cocoon forms around the insect.

"Hey wait a minute, this looks familiar..." Darren says, causing Lina to tense up. "That was Weevil Underwood's signature move!"

"Yeah, that cheating jerk is my uncle, after he got comited to an insane asylum, I got his deck, and I've made some improvments to it," Lina says. "For example, would Weevil have thought of this, I give the Cocoon of Evolution the equip spell card, Heart of Clear Water!"

A clear gel forms around the cocoon.

"As long as this card is equipped..."

"I know how it works, Renee has that same card," Darren interrupts.

"Fine, I'll play Emergency Provisions to get rid of my Greed card, and gain 1000 life points," she says, and her spell card shatters, and her life points rise to 3800. "And I'll end with two cards face down."

Darren draws.

"I activate Dust Tornado, which will destroy your Fairy Meteor Crush!" Lina says, and Gorg stops glowing. "And I can also place one card face down."

"Fine with me," Darren says. "Because I'm about to summon my second best monster, first I play Pot of Greed," he says, and draws two cards. "Now, I sacrifice Gorg and Cliff to summon this, the mighty Crescent Moon Queen (2600/1700), in attack mode!"

A beautiful warrior woman wearing obsidian black armor and wearing a long flowing cape appears carrying two swords shaped like crescent moons.

"Now, I activate this card, Negative Energy, this doubles the attack of all my dark monsters, which means Crescent Moon Queen now has 5200 attack points. So, attack with Crescent Moon Slash, my queen!"

The queen slashes at the Chainsaw Insect.

"Hey, how come you didn't lose any life points?" Darren demands.

"I triggered my trap card, a little thing called Spirit Barrier, which makes it so I won't take any battle damage as long as I have a monster on the field," Lina explains.

Lina draws. _Hmm, my Enemy controller card, if I had another monster in my hand, I could use this card to take control of his Crescent Moon Queen and win the duel right now, but since I don't have any monsters, I can't do a thing,_ she thinks, and slips the card into a s/t slot. "One card face down, and I'll end my turn."

Darren draws. _Alright, 3 more turns until that thing hatches, and I can't do a thing,_ he thinks. "Alright, I'll pass."

"This is bad people, in the history of duel monsters, only two duelists have actualy been able to defeat the Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, my dad being one of them," Wendy says.

"Oh please, my Uncle couldn't have beaten Joey Wheeler even if he had all three of the Egyptian God cards in his deck!" Lina says with a snort. "And that duel on Monster Island, my mother was a good duelist, and so am I, the guy got lucky."

"No, he had faith in his deck, they both did, just like I do now," Darren says. "And its still your move."

Lina draws. "Don't forget, three turns left, I'll place two more cards face down, and end my turn," she says.

Darren draws. "I'll have to pass again."

Lina draws. "I trigger my trap card, Pyro Clock of Destiny, which will increase the duel by one more turn!" She says, and an ancient clock appears, and its hand moves around a full circle.

"That means, your Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth will..." Darren says.

"Come right now, now emerge my great beast!" Lina says, and the cocoon bursts open, revealing a huge yellow moth with green and yellow wings (3500/3000 + 200).

_Darren's gonna have to be careful if he's gonna beat Mothra there,_ Katie thinks to herself.

"Alright, now I'll activate my face down card Enemy Controller, I pay 1000 life points, and your monster switches to defense mode!" Lina says, her life points fall to 2800, and Crescent Moon Queen goes to defense mode. "And I'll give my moth my own Fairy Meteor Crush. Now Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, attack his Queen with Poison Tornado!"

The moth sends a blast of poison at the warrior, destroying her, and dropping Darren's life points to 1300.

"I don't think there's much left you can do other than give up!" Lina says with a laugh.

_"Darren, don't give up, we never gave up even when the odds where against us, and you shouldn't either!"_ Ari says, helping Darren to his feet (he fell from the shockwave of the attack).

_T-thanks,_ Darren says, getting to his feet. "Is that it?"

"Yeah," Lina says.

_Okay, Heart of the Cards, if you're out there, show a guy some love, _he thinks, and draws.

_He's through, if he tries to summon anything and destroy my face down card, I'll activate my Judgement of Anubis, and destroy his monster and the rest of his life points,_ she thinks.

"Alright, I activate this card, Cup of Sealed Souls!" Darren says, and a cup appears with smoke rising from it. "And now, with its effect, I can activate my Seal of Serket without being restricted by my field spell, and now, I can summon the mighty, Mythical Beast Serket (2500/2000!" He says, and a huge centepede monster comes down from the temple. "And now, I equip him with Megamorph, doubling his attack points!" He says, and Serket's attack goes up to 5000. "And, to finish you off, I activate the spell card Shrink, which halves your monster's attack points!" He finishes, and the Moth's attack lowers to 1850. "Now, attack his monster!"

Serket charges at the moth, and devours it, Lina's life points fall to 0, and she groans a little bit as the holograms fade away. Darren's Duel Points go up to 4.

"Impressive," she says. "Alright, you passed the test, come, our leader will want to speak with duelists like you."

She leads them down the path, and farther into the jungle.

**000**

_Crescent Moon Queen, Dark Scorpion Sneak Attack, and Great Escape was created by Cyber Commander, all credit goes to him._

_The Serket combo was used by Odion in the Battle City finals._

_Negative Energy was used by Kaiba I think, but with a different effect._

**000**

_**Dark Scorpion-Ari the Magical: Scorpion Spell Shield-When a monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name, or is called "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover" is targeted with a spell or trap card, negate the card effect and draw one card. This card can only be used once per turn.**_

_**Insect Princess-Bug Juice: Increase the attack of all insect monsters on your field by 200. Insect Shield: When any number of your insect monsters are targeted by a spell or trap card, remove one insect monster from your grave yard to negate it.**_

**000**

_**Well, that's another duel won for Darren.**_

_**Now its time for another filler chapter, I know they're boring, but its necessary to learn more about what's happening.**_

_**Katie and friends travel to the camp of the Resistance, where they meet up with an old friend who tells Katie about her destiny. What will we learn next? Find out in "Soul Resurrection."**_


	17. Soul Resurrection

_I really should cut down on these filler chapters._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, for now, nor do I own the book Resurrection and any affiliated characters, those shall always be the property of Steve Alten_

**000**

_**When I first met Ariel Kaiba, she was friendly, forward, and had almost a calming presence, almost the exact opposite of her father.**_

_**But now I'm beginning to learn that the Kaiba family has more than its share of dark secrets, some that could influence the very result of this war.**_

_**Now I'm learning that this is just the beginning.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 17**

**SOUL RESURRECTION**

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**00000**

Lina and the other soldiers lead Katie and her friends deep into the jungle sector of the Duelist Dimension.

"Lina, how much further is it?" Katie asks.

"Not too much further, we should be there in about 15 minutes," Lina says calmly.

"Where do you think she's leading us, Katie?" Darren asks.

"I have no idea," Katie admits.

A quarter of an hour later, the group emerges out into a large clearing, dotted with mud huts, and covering it is the leafy canopy of the jungle, rope bridges connect tree platforms, and men and women patrol above them.

"Welcome to the resistance," Lina says. "An army built for a single purpose, the defeat of the demon known as Doppler."

"Looks pretty shabby," Renee says.

"This is only the cover, a refugee camp if you will. The real action is below," Lina says, opening a hatch in the ground. "Doppler's armies could search for a million years, and never find this, come with me."

She leads them down the hole, and into a cave system. Covering the walls are cave paintings of the Millennium Items.

"The natives believe that a savior will come, and crush the tyrant in the Dark Castle," Lina says, leading them down the tunnel. "They believe that the savior will be the bearer of a Millennium Item. My uncle, though disgruntled, and was committed to a mental institution years ago, remembered your father in great detail, Katie, right down to the Millennium Puzzle, that has been passed on to you."

They stop before a door, carved into it is the eye of horus.

"What was it that Morpheus said? 'I can only show you the door, you must walk through it,' yes, I believe that was it," Lina says, and opens the door, and motions the 4 duelists in.

"Katie, I didn't expect to see you until the finals," a familiar voice says, standing at the table is Ariel Kaiba, sitting next to her is Kisara, now wearing leather armor, and carrying a sword and gun at her side, and on Ariel's other side is an aging oriental man, wearing monk robes.

The monk sees Katie's puzzle, and bows politely.

"I am Tai Zong, and it is a pleasure to finally meet the savior long foretold," he says with a smile.

"We have refugees here from all over the dimension; those who don't submit to the bully tactics of the Doppelganger are murdered, we save those we can," Kisara says sadly. "But we have very few soldiers, there's no way we can win in a frontal attack on the Dark Castle."

"Which is why we take all these precautions," Ariel says, and nods. "I would like to speak to Katie, alone."

Kisara and Tai nod, and leave the room. Katie's friends look a little nervous though.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Katie says, and her friends nod, and exit the room.

"Katie, do you know why we are picked for what we must do?" Ariel asks, standing up.

"No," Katie admits. "Is it destiny?"

"In a way, Ariel says, sitting on the dirt floor, and motioning for Katie to do the same. "Have you ever heard of a man named Michael Gabriel?"

Katie shakes her head.

"I didn't think so; it's a story they've left out of the history books, much like the German warship the _Tirpitz_, which prevented the U.S from sending supplies to the Soviet Union during World War II," Ariel says. "Gabriel was originally diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, committed to a mental institution by the infamous Pierre Borgia; however, I know that you know what happened on December 21st, 2012, when the whole world was turned upside-down. Did you ever wonder why my father of all people dueled against those two that day?"

"The official report was that they challenged him to the duel, not the other way around," Katie says.

"True, but why accept? My father has never been one to take risks on that scale, was it fate? Or perhaps something else," Ariel says. "It was in his blood, so to speak, a special gene, only now being recognized by geneticists, the Hunaphu gene."

"The gene that some conspiracy theorists actually believe was of alien origin that spawned the species _Homo sapiens_?" Katie asks.

"And later _Homo superior,_ like your friend Marie Huebner, the mutants," Ariel says. "But after the mutants, some believe that there is another race of humans, one that is far more powerful, possibly strong enough to be able to manipulate everything around them. I remember when I was younger, I started hearing voices in my head, I heard a girl, crying out for help, a boy trying to reach out to her, and other's, others I couldn't explain. My mom wanted me taken in for psychiatric evaluation, she's a doctor you know, always trying to help others more than herself, but I needed no evaluation. So, instead I got a blood test, by my father's recommendation, and they found the Hunaphu gene, the same thing that Michael Gabriel had, the same thing my father has, and even, your friend, the pharaoh, a decendent of one of the guardians, much like the rest of us, but gifted with his own powers."

"The guardians?" Katie asks.

"An advanced group of humans, who traveled to earth to warn us of what would transpire on December 21st, 2012," Ariel says, and places her hand on Katie's. "Katie, I know it sounds crazy, but we share the same gift, and we can get help, or at least support, from other's like us."

"How?" Katie asks.

"I cannot explain it myself, it's called the Nexus, my understanding is that it's a plane of thought, a plane of living beyond our own, where the Hunaphu communicate, you trust me, don't you?" Ariel says.

"As much as I can, yes," Katie says.

Ariel nods and smiles.

"Then Katie," she says. "It is time to realize your birthright, but be weary, you might not like what you hear."

Katie nods, and Ariel assumes the lotus position.

"Free your mind from all earthly bonds, and if you have the gift, enter the nexus, and all shall be revealed," Ariel says, and concentrates.

Katie nods, and does the same.

A weird sensation comes over her, and her spirit feels like it exits her body.

**000**

Darkness…

That is all that she sees for now.

Then a lone voice enters her thoughts, a single consciousness.

"Are you, Katie Motou?" the voice asks, it's a male's voice; it's calm, but somewhat sad.

"Jacob, I thought you where leaving," Ariel's voice says.

"Yes, but something came up, I needed to talk to you first, Ariel," Jacob says. "Its about the abomination."

This catches Katie's attention. "The what?" She asks.

"The abomination is another one of us, another Hunaphu who exists as an embodiment of evil, the beast at the heart of the destruction that will come," Ariel says.

"Yes, that is true," Jacob says. "But I have just learned something, I think the abomination, is Lilith."

This catches Katie's attention; she remembers that being the name of the devil.

"Lilith? But, she didn't seem like the type," Ariel says in shock. "Then again, she was named for the devil."

Katie breathes a sigh of relief, it wasn't the same Lilith, but all the same, she was nervous.

"Listen Ariel, I have to go now, Xibalba waits, and Katie, good luck," Jason says, and cuts off.

"We should go too," Ariel says, and Katie agrees.

**000**

The two girls gasp as they return to their usual plane of existence.

"You're destined for great things, Katie, and I wish you luck for when you face Doppler finally, it's our destiny after all, to face our demons," Ariel says with a smiles, and gives the shorter duelist a small hug. "Good luck and Godspeed."

After about an hour of preparation, the 4 friends set out again, this time Katie is with a better sense of purpose than before.

**000**

_**Well, that was interesting.**_

_**Next chapter, the duels begin again, as Katie and the gang find themselves in a secret underground laboratory, faced with Doppler's main scientist. Can Katie beat a deck that's out of this world? Find out in, "Alien Hunter."**_


	18. Alien Hunter

_Wow, 18 chapters so far, and yet I have so much farther to go._

_But before we continue, an explination is in order._

_This fanfiction takes place in the same universe as the Pokemon Colisseum games, roughly 10 years after the first game to be exact, which will give way to some interesting guest stars._

_For those who don't know, Pokemon Colisseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness take place in a region known as Orre (in this fanfiction the Pokemon regions are placed a little ways to the north of Japan), plot-wise they are 5 years apart, with two different main carachters, but both had the same enemy, a secret organization known as Cipher._

_And now, I would like to welcome a guest star from the first game, an admin of Cipher, the first Shadow Pokemon Scientist, Ein!_

_  
And also, before I forget, Dueler King gets all the credit for Insect Princess' deckmaster ability, I forgot._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any carachters affiliated with the Pokemon Colisseum games._

**000**

_**Okay, I've said that this tournament has gotten weird before, but this deffinately takes the cake.**_

_**When I was 6, I heard some brief news reports about weird occurences happening in a country north of Japan called Orre, where a secret organization called Cipher was causing problems.**_

_**Well, The guy I'm dueling now used to work for Cipher, and he was one of their best even.**_

_**Lets hope I can do just as good as Wes did 10 years ago.**_

_**Because his dueling strategy is out of this world...**_

_**Literaly.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 18:**

**ALIEN HUNTER**

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**00000**

"Mistress Doppler, we've found Katie and her friend's duel disk signals," a minion says, comming into Doppler's throne room.

"Good, where are they now?"

"They're, uhh, entering the desert region," the minion says.

"Good, then contact Ein, he can deal with them," Doppler says, leaning back against her throne. _I'll admit, Ein is a little, unstable, but he's one of the best duelists out there, and not to mention he has pivital information on my next target, _she thinks with a laugh.

**000**

Katie and company are currently walking through a very hot virtual desert.

"I'm hot..." Darren complains.

His friends ignore him

"I'm tired..." He says again.

Yep, they ignore him.

"I'm hungry..." He complains a third time.

And this time, he gets a reaction.

"YES, WE KNOW, WE'RE ALL HUNGRY, HOT, AND TIRED, NOW WILL YOU SHUT UP!" Renee screams at him.

"Oww," Katie says. "I think I'm going to be hard of hearing for awhile after that."

"What?" Wendy asks.

"I said, I think I'm going to be hard of hearing for awhile after that!" Katie says.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you, I think I'm going to be hard of hearing for awhile," Wendy says, and Katie sweatdrops.

"Anyway, there seems to be a lab farther ahead, we should go there," Renee says.

"Why?" Katie asks.

"Because its got shade, and it might have food," Renee points out, and her friends just shrug, and they walk towards the building in the distance.

**000**

As they walk through the lab, a dark figure is watching them on a security monitor.

"Something's not right, this place is totaly deserted," Katie says, looking nervously around.

"Is anyone else reminded of Sahara?" Renee asks. "You know, where Yves Massarde abandoned his plant and set an explosive to go off when the incineration machine activated?"

"Oh yeah," Katie says. "Very dramatic scene, but the movie didn't do Clive Cussler's book justice."

"That's the problem with Hollywood, they can't give us the same feeling we get when we first read a book," Wendy says.

_Intreging, these children may finaly give me a challenge,_ the figure thinks, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. _Let us hope that this duel won't end like my battles with Wes, or Doppler will have my head._

**000**

The 4 duelists enter the final room of the lab, seated at a computer is the same man from before, but now we can see him clearly.

He has short black hair, except for a part that juts out like a lightning bolt, and wears a long white lab coat that reminds Katie a little bit of Ariel's trench coat, he adjusts the glasses that are perched on his nose as he observes the 4 duelists closely.

"So, you're the duelists that Doppler wanted me to beat," he says in an accent that is slightly romanian. "I am Ein, Doppler's head scientist."

"Ein, I've heard of you," Katie says. "You used to work at the Pokemon Lab HQ in Orre, until you where booted out for doing unauthorized expereiments on Pokemon, for that you where recruited by Cipher where you headed their first Shadow Pokemon project."

"Yes, and you have no idea how much Lovrina messed it up, but that's not the point," Ein says, and activates his duel disk. "The point is, Miss. Motou, that you and me have to duel, right here, right now!"

"Fine," Katie says, and activates her own duel disk, and takes out her deck, and looks at the cards. "I pick as my Deck Master, the Dark Magician!"

The purple robed spellcaster appears next to her, twirling his wand.

"And I'll pick, the Flying Saucer Muusik'i!" Ein says, and a giant silver and gold flying saucer appears next to him. "And since I'm a gentleman when I want to be, I'll let you go first."

Katie draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," she says.

Ein draws. "I'll also set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Katie draws. "Alright, I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "Now, I'll summon Neo the Magical Swordsman (1700/1000), in attack mode!" She says, and a man with blonde hair appears swinging a sword. "Now, attack his monster!"

Neo charges at the face down monster, and slashes at it. A silver-ish monster with glowing red eyes, and long fingers appears.

"Thanks, that was my Alien Grey, this activates two special abilities, first, I get to draw one card," Ein says, and draws one card. "And then..."

A slug shoots out, and attaches to Neo.

"What was that?" Katie demands.

"An A-Token," Ein says, holding up his duel disk and deck. "My entire deck is filled with the Alien tribe of monsters, and several of them have the effect of putting an A-Token on an opposing monster, and when they attack or being attacked by an Alien monster, they lose 300 attack points."

"Alien monsters, I've heard of those," Wendy says. "They're supposed to be very dangerous and hard to use."

"This might be bad," Renee says.

"I'll place one card face down, and end my turn," Katie says.

Ein draws. "I activate the spell card Terraforming, now I can take a field spell out of my deck," he says, and a card slips out of his deck. "I activate my field spell, Area 51!"

A mist rose in the room, followed by a dark vortex, and they were transported to an outdoor location. The 4 friends looked around. They were on the street of a large military base, surrounded by desert mountains, under a night sky. Behind Ein, an ominous alien craft was parked.

"And now, I'll summon Alien Hunter (1600/800), in attack mode!"

A blue-green and grey creature appears carrying a trident appears.

"Now, attack Neo with Extraterrestrial Hunting Instinct Attack!"

The hunter slashes at Neo with its trident, and the spellcaster's attack goes down to 1400, Katie's life points fall down to 3800.

"And since my Hunter destroyed a monster with an A-Token on it, he can attack again, so hit her directly!"

The hunter slashes at Katie, who falls to her hands and knees as her life points fall to 2200.

"Katie!" Renee says in shock.

"I'm okay," Katie says, gripping her side as she stands up painfully.

"I'll end my turn with one card face down," Ein says.

Katie draws. _Nothing that can beat his Hunter,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Ein draws. "I'm going to activate my Deckmaster's special ability, by paying 300 life points, I can add a monster with "Alien" in its name to my hand," he says, and takes a card out of his deck and puts it in his hand. "Now, I summon the monster I searched for, Alien Skull (1600/1800)!"

A hideous, fiendish, silver, hunched over monster appears, drooling and bearing his claws.

"Now, attack her face down monster, Extraterrestrial Skull Bash!" he commands, and Alien Skull charges at the face down monster, but bounces off a blue female monster with long blonde hair.

"That was my Mystical Elf (800/2000)," Katie says, and Ein's life points fall to 3300.

"Fine, I'll end my turn," Ein says.

Katie draws. "Alright, I'll sacrifice my Elf to bring out my Dark Magician Girl!" she says, and the buxom apprentice of the Dark Magician appears, and gives a wink towards the Dark Magician at Katie's side. "Now, I'll activate the spell card Sage's Stone, and use my deckmaster's special ability..." she says, and her life points fall to 1200. "By paying 1000 life points, I can use my spell card twice, and summon my other two Dark Magicians!"

The Green robed Dark Magician and the Red robed Dark Magician appears.

"Now my Dark Magicians will attack both of your Aliens!"

"You activated the effect of my field card, sure you destroy my monsters, but my field switches them to defense mode, and I take no damage," Ein says, and the two Aliens kneel in defense mode before being blasted away by the spellcasters.

"Fine, but that won't protect you, Dark Magician Girl, attack with Dark Burning Attack!" Katie commands, and Dark Magician Girl spins her wand, and blasts at Ein, who's life points fall to 1300. "And I'll place one card face down to end my turn."

Ein draws. "I activate the spell card, Invasion Force, by removing an alien monster in my graveyard, I can give your monsters each one A-Token!" He says, and the slugs attach onto the monsters. "Now, I activate the trap card, Brainwashing Beam!"

A beam strikes the red-robed Dark Magician, who floats over to Ein's side of the field.

"I'll set one monster in defense mode, now Dark Magician, attack Dark Magician Girl!" Ein commands, and the spellcaster starts to twirl his wand.

"Go spell card, Mana's Rage!" Katie counters, and her spellcard flips face up. "I knew you would try that, so I put this card face down, and your trap is destroyed!"

Dark Magician floats back to Katie's side of the field, and looks angry at Ein.

"Uhh, I'll end my turn by placing one card face down," the scientist says. _If she tries to attack, I can use my Mirror Force to destroy his monsters._

Katie draws. "Not bad, but I'm gonna summon a new monster, I sacrifice my two Dark Magicians, to summon the mighty, **_Sorceror of Dark Magic_** (3200/2800!" She says, and a black-robed spellcaster carrying a staff appears. "Now Sorceror, attack his face down monster, Celestial Blast!"

The spellcaster blasts at the monster.

"Go trap card, Mirror Force!" Ein counters, and the trap flips up, but then is blasted by a spell.

"Sorry, but trap cards are automaticaly negated," Katie says, and the face down monster, an Alien Warrior is blasted away. "Now Dark Magician Girl, finish him off!"

"No..." Ein says, and gets blasted by the female spellcaster, and blasts him, his life points falling to 0, and collapses.

"Game over, Ein, now give us some answers!" Katie shouts at the man, who struggles to get to his feet.

The suddenly he laughs maniacaly. "Well, Katie, you managed to win again," he says in the hollow voice of someone posessed. "You may have defeated another one of my minions, but you won't beat me," the man says, and collapses.

"That must've been Doppler..." Katie says in shock.

**000**

_The Flying Saucer's deckmaster ability was made by Dueler King._

_Yugi used Dark Magician's deckmaster ability against the Big 5._

_Area 51 was created by Cyber Commander._

**000**

_**Invasion**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of Alien Grey and Alien Hunter attacking a man. Remove one monster with "Alien" in its name from your graveyard to put a A-Counter on each monster on the opponent's side of the field.**_

**000**

_**Well, that's another chapter done.**_

_**Next: So far, we have seen two Spirit Eliminators, first was the dragonslayer the Buster Blader, and the fiendish nobleman the Earl of Demise.**_

_**Now, there another one is comming, her plagues will ravage the earth, and fear shall be shown on the face of all who stand in her way. **_

_**"And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."-Revelation 9:6.**_

_**Don't miss, "Ragnarok."**_


	19. Ragnarok

_The Apockalypse, the end of the world, may be comming soon._

_I cannot tell you if it will come soon or not, but this chapter will show it from the Yu-Gi-Oh standpoint._

_But for now, when all else fails, one must step forward and take charge yourself._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or in some ways, the Bible._

**000**

_**I have always learned about the end of the world as a series of events, on top of everything I know, I've heard legends about two Duel Monsters cards that could be the result of what shall happen when the world ends.**_

_**Ruin, Queen of Oblivion and Demise, King of Armageddon.**_

_**Now that I must face the latter of the two, I now realize the risks of this tournament for myself.**_

_**If I can't win, its possible that the real world could be in danger as well.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 19:**

**RAGNAROK**

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**00000**

After finally leaving the desert, Katie and her friends find themselves in the ruins of an old town, people are seen shifting through the ruins of houses and other buildings.

"What happened here?" Renee wonders out loud.

"Its the Horsewoman," a voice from behind them says, they turn to see a man with greying hair, and wearing a jacket with a white t-shirt and blue jeans. "Come with me, and I will explain all."

They shrug, and follow the man into the ruins of an old church.

**000**

"It was two years ago or so, the town was at peace, and then she came," the man says. "A woman with long white hair, garbbed in a dress of red, yellow, and black, carrying a legedary staff that could be used to bring about the end of the world, the Staff of Ragnarok!"

At this Wendy looks shocked. "You've seen, the Queen?" She asks, taking out an ancient book from her bag, and placing it on the table.

"A Codex of Merlin? Where did you get that?" the man asks.

"Its a long story," Wendy says, turning to a page. "It is written here: 'The Queen of Armageddon is known as Ruin, Queen of Oblivion. She is a woman with long white hair and rides astride a pale horse, rumored to be the one described in the Book of Revelation. Ruin is described as the Horseman of Death, she is known to like games of skill, and can destroy enemies in one blast, using the mythical Rod of Ragnarok. Anyone who fights Ruin must approach with extreme caution, and try to outsmart the Queen, as opposed to attacking her with brute force,'" she recites. "If Ruin is here, then..."

"If you're looking for Ruin, you'll have to travel to the north, she resides in the frozen tundra in a great castle," the man says, and Wendy nods.

"Alright, lets go!" She says, and leaves the church, followed closely by her four friends.

_Good luck,_ the man thinks.

**000**

"I wonder who that was," Katie says. "I can't help but think he looked familiar."

"Yeah, I agree," Renee says as they walk through the frozen tundra, Katie shivers, holding her jacket close to her body.

"I'll bet anything that Doppler has a few tricks in store for us," she says.

**000**

_And why disapoint her? After all, I don't only have to create Spirit Eliminators from cards,_ she thinks, and a pentagram appears before her, she takes a card out, and places it in the center, making it glow. _This one should fit Ruin's certain, flair for the dramatic._

**000**

As the 4 friends continue along, the snow picks up speed, but then turns black.

"This, isn't good," Katie says, and then screams as the blackness turns into locusts. "Its one of the plagues, the Locusts!"

The duelists run away, followed closely by the swarm of locusts.

"Hold it..." Renee says, and activates her duel disk.

"Renee, what are you doing?"

"You'll see, go Guardian Ceal!" She says, and a beast guardian appears. "Now attack with Burning Arrow Attack!"

The beast draws back his bow, and fires it at the swarm, causing it to burst into flames. The other 3 look dumbfounded.

"Its just the Swarm of Locusts, a Duel Monsters card with low attack points, while it looks frightening, its nothing against most of the monsters in our decks," Renee says, and her friends facefault. "Anyway, looks like we're here."

A large castle made of ice emerges out of the landscape.

"What kind of deck do you think she'll have, if she duels at all," Darren asks.

"Well, because of the lack of monsters, it can't really be much of an ice theme, but then again, Ruin is a beast of the Apockalypse, maybe she'll have some sort of an Apockalypse deck," Katie says.

"Well, lets go," Wendy says, and they walk into the castle.

**000**

They emerge into a huge throne room, sitting on the throne is a woman with long white hair and a red, yellow, and black dress, with a staff by her side, she smiles at the sight of them.

"Greetings," she says in a southern accent, which reminds Katie a little of Marie. "I'm sure you know who I am, but I am also a Spirit Eliminator, I'm sure you're familiar with that term."

"Yeah, the Earl of Demise tried to beat me," Katie mutters.

"Alright Ruin, I'll challenge you to a duel!" Wendy says, and the woman grins.

"Very well," Ruin says, and a red and black duel disk appears on her arm.

"Okay," Wendy says, and activates her own duel disk, then suddenly she gasps, and begins to transform. When its done, she's now identical to her Sashia, the Samurai Squire. "Fine," she says with a growl, and drawing her opening hand.

"Since I'm the Spirit Eliminator, I will go first," Ruin says, and draws. "I activate the continuous spell card, the Rapture, as long as this spell card is active, whenever a monster of mine would be sent to the graveyard by any means, it instead gets shuffled back into my deck."

A card with the image of spirits leaving earth appears.

"I'll set one monster in defense mode, and activate Different Dimension Capsule, I'll remove one card in my deck from the game, and get it back in two turns."

She takes a card out of her deck, and places it in her pocket.

"Your move."

Wendy draws. _Okay, this is a pretty weird starting move, but I can manage,_ she thinks. "Alright, I'll activate the spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Capsule!"

The sarcophagus is blown away by a wind.

_She played right into my hands,_ Ruin thinks.

"Now, I'll summon my Usagi Warrior (1500/1200)!" She says, and a hare warrior appears, carrying a katana. "I'll then equip him with my Blade of Bushido, giving him 700 more attack points."

The blade appears in the hare's paws, and his attack raise to 2200.

"Now, attack her face down monster!" She commands, and the Hare charges at the face down monster, and its revealed to be a strange-looking fairy with a face like an inverted V.

"Thanks, that was my Kelbeck, and any monster that attacks it goes back to the user's hand," Ruin says, and Usagi Warrior vanishes, and Wendy picks up the card off her disk.

_My Uncle told me about those cards, Ishizu Ishtar used them against him, the sand fairies, now if I can only remember how they work,_ Wendy thinks.

"And lets not forget about my Rapture spell card," Ruin says, and shuffles the monster back into her deck.

"This is troublesome," Katie says. "That spell card not only makes it so Ruin's monsters are reusable, it could be dangerous for Wendy, but useful in other's."

_That's right, without monsters in her graveyard, her Mudora is worthless, but I don't doubt that she'll have some way around that,_ Wendy thinks. "Alright, I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Ruin draws. "When you removed my card from the game by destroying my Capsule, you activated the special ability of my spell card, its a little thing called Opening the Seven Seals, and it all starts right now," she says, showing a card in her hand. "Now I'm going to use my own special ability, by discarding two cards from my hand to the graveyard, or should I say back into my deck, I can take out this card, its known as Calling of the Slain!"

"Is that a ritual card?" Wendy asks.

"No, its a card I need to bring forth my best combo," Ruin says with a smile. "So, I'll now activate Calling of the Slain, this card lets me revive a specific monster from my graveyard, so I'll pick, the Slain Lamb (1200/2000), in defense mode!"

And emerging from what looks like a heavenly throne emerges a lamb who looks like its been slain, with 7 horns and 7 eyes.

"And now, I'll activate the spell card, Plagues of the Seven Seals, this will allow me to activate a spell card at the end of each of my end phases until they're all activated," she says, and looks over her hand. "I now activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards. "I'll end my turn by equiping my Slain Lamb with Heart of Clear Water. And now, before you do anythign else, I activate the spell card, First Seal!"

A scroll appears above the lamb, and the first seal is broken.

"Now, I can summon this monster from my deck, The Conquerer (3000/2500)!"

A horseman riding a white horse, and carrying a bow, and wearing a crown.

Wendy draws. _Nothing I can use to get rid of her horseman,_ she thinks with a sigh. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Ruin draws. "And now I'll get a monster I discarded with my special ability," she says, taking a Sinister Serpent out of her graveyard. "Now Conquerer, attack her face down monster!"

The horseman draws back an arrow, and shoots the face down monster.

"That was my Tornado Bird..." Wendy starts.

"Sorry, the Conquerer negates any special ability of the monsters it attacks," Ruin says. "And I'll end my turn, and I can activate the spell card Second Seal! Of course, I'll have to sacrifice my Conquerer."

The second seal breaks, and the horseman dissapears.

"Now, I can summon the second of my compatriots, War (2800/2250)!"

A horseman on a red horse, carrying a great sword appears.

Wendy draws. "I'll set one more monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Oh no, unless she can get something soon, Wendy might lose..." Katie says.

Ruin draws. "War, attack her face down monster with Hellish War-cry attack! And by the way, when War attacks a monster in defense mode, it automaticaly switches into attack mode!" She says, and the war horseman charges at the face down monster, which flips up as a Usagi Warrior, who switches to attack mode, but is still destroyed. Wendy's life points fall to 6700. "And I'll end my turn by activating the spell card, Third Seal, this lets me summon the third horseman of the Apockalypse by sacrificing War, Famine (2600/2300)!"

An old man carrying a pair of balances, riding a black horse gallops into view as the third seal is broken.

"And that's it."

Wendy draws. _I've got a bad feeling about that monster, but I've got nothing else I can use,_ she says, and gasps as Famine's balances start moving, and a gas enters Wendy's open mouth, she colapses to the ground gagging as her life points fall to 6200.

"'A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see though hurt not the oil and the wine!'-Revelation 5:6," Ruin recites with a laugh which sends chills down everyone's spines. "Every time you draw, you lose 500 life points!"

_At least its going to be gone next turn, then again she probably will have something worse next turn,_ Wendy thinks, looking at her hand. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Ruin draws, and two cards slip out of her deck. "I activate the ritual card, End of the World, I'll sacrifice Famine, to bring forth the 4th and last Horseman, or should I say, horsewoman!"

_Oh no..._ Wendy thinks.

"I summon to the field, myself, **_Ruin, Queen of Oblivion_** (2300/2000), in attack mode!" she says, and, well, herself appears onto the field. "Now, attack with Rod of Ragnarok!"

The hologram version of Ruin blasts at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Mataza the Zapper.

"And now, she can attack you again!"

The monster blasts Wendy, and she screams as her life points fall to 3700.

Ruin laughs maniacaly as she's still standing strong at 8000.

**000**

_Hah, this duel is almost over, and we'll have our first victory over the light,_ Doppler thinks.

**000**

"Come on, Wendy, you can beat this demon!" Katie shouts at her best friend.

"Technicaly, despite my nature, Miss. Motou, I am, by deffinition, an angel," Ruin snaps at the small girl.

"Yeah right," Katie says. "Your a horseman of the Apockalypse, and while its true that your card says that your a fairy or angel, your as evil as any demon serving in Hell!"

Ruin growls, and sends a blast of magical energy at Katie's feet, making her jump back in fear.

"Be glad I didn't aim for you," Ruin growls, and then looks in shock as Katie begins to stand up. "You, you're still alive!"

"Of course," Wendy says. "Even with your power, unless this is a shadow game, Miss. Pegasus' safety systems are still in place, and you can't kill me in a duel!"

"Fine, your move," Ruin says.

Wendy draws. "Thanks to my deckmaster ability, I can remove two monsters from play to substitute them for tributes for this monster, Yammoto the Noble Samurai (2200/2000 + 300)!" she says, and the gold-armored samurai appears swinging his sword. "Now, attack her monster!"

Yammoto slashes through the Queen, and Ruin's life points fall to 7800. The card gets shuffled back into her deck.

_Its a start,_ Wendy thinks as she ends her turn.

Ruin draws. "I activate my special ability, and discard two more cards to add a spell card to my hand," she says, discarding two cards that Wendy recognizes as Ruin, Queen of Oblivion and Demise, King of Armageddon, and a card slips out of her deck. "Now, I activate this spell card, the Indwelling, this card can only be activated when all 4 of the Horseman of the Apockalypse and Demise in my graveyard, and I can special summon this monster from my graveyard!"

A fire made of darkness appears on the field, and a man appears, or at least what should be a man.

It is a man in a grey suit and tie with short blonde hair with his eyes rolled back into his head, and a mark on his forhead.

The feared mark, 666 surrounded by a circle, the mark of the beast.

"'Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows he has a short time!'-Revelation 12:12," Ruin recites with another laugh. "Long prophisized in the book of revelation, is Nicholae, the Antichrist (3500/3000)!" She says and laughs. "Forever intwined with the spirit of Lucifer, you may know this man as Nicolae Carpathia, this card was made in honor of the _Left Behind_ series, but believe me, the real Antichrist is much, much more intemidating."

Katie gulps, even though she knew that Lilith was the current ruler of Hell (and apparently had long made peace with Heaven), the idea of an Antichrist still frightened her.

It occured to her suddenly that Lucifer must still be present in the world, but where, she didn't know.

"Now Nicholae, attack with Black Hellfire!" Ruin commands, disrupting Katie's train of thought, and the man cups his hands, and fires a burst of fire at the samurai, and Wendy's life points fall to 3200.

"Thankfully, Yammoto gains 500 attack points when battling a fiend," Wendy says.

"Your move then," Ruin says.

_Unless she draws something good right now, then Wendy's gonna lose,_ Katie realizes.

_Alright Heart of the Cards, show a girl some love,_ Wendy thinks, and draws, and suddenly Nicholae sends a gas burst at Wendy, and she collapses again.

"Oh, did I forget to mention, Nicholae has all the abilities of the first 3 horseman," Ruin says with a laugh.

"Whatever," Wendy says, looking at her hand. "I activate Monster Reborn, and I'll bring back Yammoto!"

The samurai appears again.

"And now, I summon this monster, Time Wizard!" she says, and a clock-like spellcaster appears on the field. "And now, I'll use his effect, time roulette!"

The Time Wizard raises his staff, and the arrow begins spinning.

"Come on, don't land on a skull," Darren says.

The roulette slows down in a second, and lands on the top crown, and a vortex appears above the field, and sucks in Nicholae, and Ruin's life points fall to 5600.

"And that's not all it did," Wendy said, and Yammoto glows, and seems to grow older, and wiser. "When Yammoto trains for 1000 years, he reaches the ultimate enlightenment sought by all warriors, and becomes Yammoto the Celestial Avatar (2800/2300)! And now, I'll move myself, Sashia the Samurai Squire (1700/1500 + 300) to the field."

She does a flip, and takes a place next to Yammoto.

"Wait, she can do that?" Darren asks.

"Apparently so," Renee says. "Even by the rules of the Spirit Eliminators, she's technicaly still a deckmaster, and can summon herself to the field."

"I'll place one card face down, and attack you directly!" Wendy says, and notches an arrow into her bow, and launches it at Ruin, at the same time Yammoto slashes Ruin with his sword, and the dark angel's life points fall to 800. "Your move."

Ruin draws. "I activate my second Indwelling card!" she says, and Nicholae appears again. "Now attack!"

The antichrist sends a blast of fire at Wendy.

"Go trap card, Book of Tao, doubling my attack points!" Wendy counters, and her attack points rise to 4000, and she launches another arrow at Nicholae, and he colapses again, Ruin's life points fall to 100.

Ruin looks shocked, that she could go from dominating the duel to about to lose. "Y-your m-move," she stutters.

Wendy draws, and her attack falls back to 2000. "And now, I'm gonna finish you off personaly!" She says, and draws another arrow, and strikes Ruin with it, she lets out a scream as it pierces her heart, she colapses as the holograms fade, and Wendy's Duel points go up to 7.

"V-very g-good," she says, fainting.

A door behind her throne opens, and they walk off.

**000**

_Well, there's another good duelist defeated, and she could've been usefull later,_ Doppler thinks and shakes her head. _Well, it was her own fault, she got too confident in her own abilities._

**000**

_Yammoto the Celestial Avatar was created by Cyber Commander._

**000**

_**The Rapture**_

_**Continuous Spell**_

_**Image of souls leaving earth towards heaven. As long as this card is active, any cards that would normaly be sent to the graveyard gets shuffled back into the user's deck.**_

_**Opening the Seven Seals**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a scroll with seven seals. The effect of this card can only be used when its removed from the game. On the end phase of each of your turns, activate a card from your deck with "Seal" in its name.**_

_**Calling of the Slain**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a slain lamb appearing above an altar. Revive "Slain Lamb" from your graveyard.**_

_**Slain Lamb**_

_**Light**_

_**Beast/Effect**_

_**1200**_

_**2000**_

_**This card can only be summoned by the effect of "Calling of the Slain."**_

_**First Seal**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a seal being broken. This card can only be activated when "Opening of the Seven Seals" is removed from the game and "Slain Lamb" is on the field, special summon "Conquerer" from your deck. In the end phase of your next turn, sacrifice "Conquerer" to activate "Second Seal" from your hand, deck, or graveyard.**_

_**First Horseman-Conquerer**_

_**Dark**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**3000**_

_**2500**_

_**This is one of the 4 horseman of the apockalypse, some say that the Conquerer is an early incarnation of the the Antichrist. When this monster attacks, negate the effect of any monster it destroys.**_

_**Second Seal**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a seal being broken. This card can only be activated when "Opening of the Seven Seals" is removed from the game and "Slain Lamb" is on the field, special summon "War" from your deck. In the end phase of your next turn, sacrifice "War" to activate "Third Seal" from your deck.**_

_**Second Horseman-War**_

_**Dark**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**2800**_

_**2250**_

_**This is the second of the 4 horseman of the apockalypse. When this monster attacks another monster, the duelist can switch the position of the monster into attack or defense position, if it is face down, it will be flipped up without activating any effects.**_

_**Third Seal**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a seal being broken. This card can only be activated when "Opening of the Seven Seals" is removed from the game and "Slain Lamb" is on the field, special summon "Fammine" from your deck. In the standby phase of your next turn, add "End of the World" and "Ruin, Queen of Oblivion" to your hand from your deck or graveyard.**_

_**Third Horseman-Fammine**_

_**Dark  
Warrior/Effect**_

_**2600**_

_**2300**_

_**This is the third of the 4 horsemen of the Apockalypse. When the opponent draws for any reason, they lose 500 life points.**_

_**The Indwelling**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a devil casting fire on a man. This card can revive "Nicholae, the Antichrist" from the graveyard. Afterwords, you cannot normal summon a monster for the rest of the turn..**_

_**Nicholae, the Antichrist**_

_**Dark**_

_**Fiend/Effect**_

_**3500**_

_**3000**_

_**This man is the embodyment of pure evil on earth, he came as a man of peace, but is determined to dominate the world. This card can only be special summoned from your hand or deck by the effect of "Global Peace" or from the graveyard by "The Indwelling" when "Conquerer," "War," "Fammine," "Ruin, Queen of Oblvion," and "Demise, King of Armageddon," are all in your graveyard. This monster has all the effects of the first three horsemen.**_

**000**

_**Sashia the Samurai Squire-Squire's Loyalty: Remove two monsters in your graveyard from the game to special summon "Yammoto the Noble Samurai" from your hand. You cannot normal summon on the same turn.**_

_**Ruin, Queen of Oblivion-Ragnarok Spell: Discard two cards from your hand to add any spell card in your deck to your hand. Any cards discarded are unaffected by the spell card "The Rapture."**_

**000**

_**Phew, long chapter.**_

_**Anyway, time for the preview of what's next.**_

_**Renee duels against a fiend duelist in, "Dark World Lightning."**_

_**Sure its not as dramatic as the last one, but just read.**_


	20. Dark World Lightning

_Sorry it took so long to write this, I was working on other things._

_Before you read on, a word of warning to all._

_Not everything that you shall read in my fanfictions are as it seems._

_The story of the Dark Scorpions is my version of it, if there is another, I do not know it. Though, GrizzlyUnderThere gets partial credit._

_On a lighter note, this is the 20th chapter of this fanfiction, which makes it the longest running fanfiction I've ever written! throws confetti_

_Also, today, November 15th, is my birthday!_

_Disclaimer: If you think that I own Yu-Gi-Oh, your wrong, dead wrong._

**000**

_**In the two years I was the French National Champion, I faced my share of weird decks.**_

_**I once faced a guy from Germany who used a deck based on Fairy Tales, that was interesting to say the least, but not the worst I've ever faced.**_

_**Probably my toughest opponent was this one guy who used the Archfiends, it took a lot of doing, but in the end my guardians won the day.**_

_**Now I'm facing another fiend duelist with a more frightening deck.**_

_**And I have to say that I really, really don't like fiends.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 20:**

**DARK WORLD LIGHTNING**

**0000000000**

**00000**

"Do you think that was the real Ruin?" Renee asks as soon as they're out of sight of the ice castle, and well into some plains.

"Well, I wouldn't doubt it," Katie says. "Doppler probably has the power to be able to use creatures from the monster world, and logic does state that they would be dark in nature. To be honest, I'd hate to think what she might send after us next. Though, I might be able to guess who will want to attack you, Darren."

"Me?" Darren asks.

"Yeah, don't you know the history behind the Dark Scorpions?" Katie asks, Darren shakes his head. "Originaly, Don Zaloog was the king of a small nation who's name has long been forgotten, but some of his subjects thought he was a little soft. So there was a revolution, started by Zaloog's most trusted advisor, a monster that most duelists fear, Makyura the Destructor.

"When he was dethroned, Don Zaloog gathered together a small group to assist him in overthrowing Makyura.

"First and formost, there was Meanae LeBec, a french immigrant working at a pub in the sleeziest part of town, she was known as a fierce fighter, and any man who ever dared to lay a finger on her, would leave with a few bodyparts missing, if he was lucky. She was a firm loyalist in her own weird way, and joined up with Don, some say she had even fallen in love with him, she was named Meanae the Thorn because of her skill with a whip that would make Indiana Jones jealous.

"Gorg Lorenzini was a palace guard, known for his strength and heart of gold, he had been put in prison by Makyura around the same time that Don Zaloog was dethroned. Out of anger towards Makyura, Gorg became the second member of the gang of thieves that was dubbed the Dark Scorpions.

"Cliff Erikson was in charge of building war weapons for Makyura, and was for a short time, Don Zaloog's mole in the palace. But when he was found out, they had to make a quick rescue, where they also found a peasant boy named Chick, who was in prison for stealing bread for his family.

"The Dark Scorpions terrorized the countryside, mostly those working for the Destructor. But eventually they where driven out, eventually finding themselves in the nation of Egypt. Makyura had been expanding his empire since then, and Egypt was one of the few nations still free from the demon's power.

"They pleaded with the Pharoh to give them safe haven, but by the time they finally convinced him, Makyura's armies had finally reached Egypt. Blaming the Dark Scorpions for what happened, the thieves where thrown out of the royal palace, they where lucky to not have been executed.

"Now at that time in Egypt, there was a young priestess by the name of Ari, some say that she was the daughter of a powerfull sorceror and a white dragon. She was known for having very strict policies towards judgement, and most criminals where frightened of her. After Makyura started to take a hold in the government of Egypt, she left to join the Dark Scorpions in Exile.

"By that time, the membership had grown. The Pharoh's wife, Rose, had joined the thieves, followed by Don Zaloog's twin sister Avannah, who had been in exile in Egypt. They found a young girl begging on the streets and took her in, that's how Irae joined the group. Xain was a little harder to convince, he was a demolitions expert for Makyura, but when his family was killed, he joined the Dark Scorpions out of revenge.

"Once there where ten members, they began to stir up thoughts of Revolution throughout the entire empire, and gained support from nations still out of Makyura's controll.

"And finally, there was a great battle between the forces of Makyura the Destructor and the Dark Scorpions, and within 3 years of when they where exiled, the Dark Scorpions overthrew Makyura, and peace reigned once again."

"Wow, interesting story," Darren says, and shrugs. "Well, we'll just have to find out, but I'm ready for anything that Doppler can throw at me!"

"Yeah Darren, I'm sure those rocks you just shouted at are real intimidated," Renee says, and everyone but Darren laughs.

"Everyone's a critc," Darren mutters as they come upon a river in the middle of the field.

Glad to finally get a chance to relax, the 4 friends take a break on the riverbank.

In a tree nearby, Kisara watches, and holds up a radio.

"I found them Ariel, what should I do?" she asks.

"Contact a member of the resistance, we need to test Renee, Steven should do fine," Ariel's voice responds.

"The Dark World Duelist? I dunno Ariel, I trust your judgement and all, but..." Kisara says.

"You worry too much Kisara, Steven will do fine," Ariel says, and Kisara nods, and switches the channel.

"Kisara here, get me Steven Hornbrook," she says into the radio.

**000**

A little while later, Katie and her friends have set up camp for the night, when they hear a rustling in the bushes.

"Who's there!" Wendy demands, reaching for her katana.

"Don't bother, I mean you no harm," a voice says, and into the light of a fire steps a young man maybe two years older than our heroes. He's wearing black armor, with a broadsword strapped to his side, short brown hair, and a duel disk registering him to have 7 DP strapped to his arm. "Is it alright if I sit with you all, I've had a tiring day."

The 4 friends nod, and the man sits next to Katie.

"My name is Steven Hornbrook, though, some people call me the Dark World Knight," he says, and the 4 friends introduce themselves. "Oh, your Renee Lords."

"Yeah, so?" Renee asks, eating a Hot Dog she had been roasting.

"Well, I have orders to duel you," Steven says, and activates his duel disk.

"Fine with me," Renee says, and finishes her Hot Dog before activating her own duel disk. "And I'll pick as my Deckmaster, the mighty Guardian Grarl!"

The dinosaur guardian appears next to her.

"And I'll pick, my Dark Ruler Ha Des!" Steven says, and a hulking demon appears behind him.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Renee says, and draws. "I activate my Guardian Treasure spell card, I'll discard these 5 cards..." she says, and discards 5 cards from her hand. "And draw two cards now and every draw phase as long as this card is active," she says, and draws two more cards. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place one card face down to end my turn."

Steven draws. "I'm going to activate my Gracefull Charity spell card," he says, and draws 3 cards, then discards two. "And here's the two monsters two Beiige Vanguards of Dark World (1600/1300), which means they are automaticaly special summoned!"

Two fiends that are sunken and gaunt, and wore clothing that seemed to be made of bone. They carried a long pike.

"And now, I'll summon my third Beiige!" Steven says, and a third fiend appears.

"Oh I get it," Katie says. "At first I thought Steven might use a dark warrior deck, but its obvious now, he uses the Dark World fiends!"

"The what?" Darren says.

"The Dark World monsters are a group of powerful fiends, they can be special summoned when they are discarded from the user's hand, some of them even have effects activated when that happens," Wendy explains. "And I don't doubt that Steven knows how to use them."

Katie nods.

"And now, to finish my Combo, I equip Beiige with this card, Chithonian Alliance!" Steven says, and dark fire surrounds the middle Vanguard. "This gives him an additional 1600 attack, since I have two other Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World on the field!" He says, and the middle Beiige's attack goes up to 3200. "Now, attack her face down monster!"

"Go trap card, Negate Attack!" Renee counters, and a vortex negates the attack.

"Fine, I'll end my turn by activating the field spell, War-Torn Plains of Dark World!" Steven says, and the scenery begins to change...

The ground was a rocky wasteland, and skeletal corpses – with fiendish features – littered the ground. The sky was dark and maroon-colored, and three ominous moons looked down upon them. In the distance, a sinister castle of alien architecture loomed.

Renee draws her two cards. _Well, it won't get me through his combo, but it will at least buy me some time,_ she thinks. "I activate my spell card, Swords of Revealing Light!"

The swords fall around Steven, who growls.

"I'll also flip summon my face down Back-Up Guardna.

The demon appears.

"And now, since I have one card left in my hand, my deckmaster's ability is activated, I can discard it to draw 3 cards," she says, and does so. "Now, I activate a spell card called Gem Shield-Ruisen, and equip it to my Guardna!"

A golden shield with a huge diamond in the center appears, and Back-Up Guardna grabs it.

"Uhh, Katie, have you ever heard of this card?" Darren asks.

"Briefly," Katie admits. "Its supposed to be a very rare guardian weapon, now lets see if Renee knows what she's doing."

"This equip spell automaticaly switches the equiped monster to defense mode," Renee says, and the demon switches to defense mode. "And then lets me special summon Guardian Ruisen (500/3000) to the field!"

A huge bulky warrior carrying a giant shield appears.

"And I'll equip him with his shield, thanks to my Guardna's effect," she finishes, and the equip card switches to the Guardian. "And since he's equiped with his card, you can't attack any of my other monsters. So I'll end my turn by equipping him with Heart of Clear Water."

Steven draws. _Not what I need,_ he thinks. "I'll pass."

The swords dim a little.

Renee draws her two cards. "I'll equip Back-Up Guardna with Rod of Silence-Kay'est!" she says, and the demon grabs a frozen blue rod. "Now, I summon my Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in attack mode!"

The blue mermaid guardian appears.

"And thats it for me."

Steven draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and and one card face down to end my turn."

The swords fade a little more.

Renee draws two cards. "I activate my Gracefull Charity spell card," she says.

"Activate trap card, Zombie's Jewel, this allows me to take the card you just sent to the graveyard and put it in my hand," Steven counters.

"Fine, all you get is my Gracefull Charity," Renee says, tossing the card over to Steven.

"How do you know that's not what I wanted in the first place?" Steven points out. "Look at it this way, you get to draw an extra card."

"Fine," Renee says, and draws 4 cards before discarding two. "Alright, I'll end my turn there."

Steven draws. "I'll pass, and let your Swords end."

The swords vanish.

Renee draws her two cards. "I'll place one card face down, and equip my Guardna with Butterfly Dagger-Elma!" She says, and a dagger shaped like a butterfly appears in the demon's hand. "Now, I can summon my favorite monster, Guardian Elma (1300/1100), in attack mode!"

The red-haired guardian appears.

"I can never figure out why thats her favorite monster," Darren says confused.

"Look closely Darren," Wendy says.

Darren does, and smacks his forhead. "Oh, well, change the outfit, and die her hair blonde, and you've got Renee, can't believe I didn't see that," Darren says. "Assuming Renee's natural hair color is blonde of course."

Renee ignores him. "I'll switch my Dagger to Elma!" she says, and the dagger switches to the guardian. "And now, I'll activate first Kishido Spirit, then give Elma Gravity Axe-Grarl," she says, and the giant axe appears in Elma's hand, raising her attack to 2100. "Now, attack his first Beiige!"

The Guardian slashes through the first demon, and Steven's life points fall to 3500, and the Beiige equiped with Chithonian Alliance's attack falls to 2400.

"Your move, Steven," Renee finishes.

"For all your boasting, this duel isn't over yet," Steven says as he draws. "I activate the spell card, Dark World Supression, this automaticaly destroys the monster on the field with the highest defense points, and it can't be negated!"

Guardian Ruisen bursts into pixels.

"As a downside, I have to discard two cards from my hand, if you could call it that," he says, and takes two cards out of his hand, and slips them into the graveyard.

A silvery glow appeared on Steven's side, and a huge Fiend appeared. He was beautiful in a demonic way, dressed in silver ceremonial armor and a flowing cape. He carried a long sword.

"Meet, Silva, Warlord of Dark World (2300/1400)!" Steven shouts, and the demon lets out a roar of bloodlust. "Now, attack her Guardian Elma!"

"Go trap card!" Renee shouts. "Mirror Force!"

The 3 monsters burst into pixels.

"I knew you would try a combo like that, Dark World Duelists always do, so I always come prepared with my Mirror Force trap card, for extreme conditions," Renee says.

_Crap, all I have is my face down Scarr, maybe if I can use this trap card, I can do this,_ Steven thinks. "I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Renee draws 2 cards. "I activate my spell card, Pot of Charity, by removing my Guardian from the game, I can draw 3 cards," she says, and does so. "Now, I activate my Nobleman of Crossout!"

The femminine night appears, and slashes at the face down monster, which bursts into pixels.

"Now, I summon my deckmaster to the field!" she says, and the dinosaur Guardian moves to the field. "Now to finish you off, Elma, Kay'est, Grarl, attack him directly!"

Grarl slashes at Steven with his axe, Elma stabs him with her dagger, and Kay'est bashes him with her rod. Steven is left battered and bruised with his life points at 0.

"Not bad," he says, and Renee's Duel Points go up to 6. "Maybe we can duel again someday," he says, and walks off.

_That was a weird guy,_ Renee thinks, and watches him leave.

**00000**

_War Torn Plains of Dark World was created by Cyber Commander._

_Marik used Zombie's Jewel against Yami._

_Dark Ruler Ha Des' deckmaster ability was used by Grodus in "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door"_

**00000**

_**Gem Shield-Ruisen**_

_**Equip Spell**_

_**Image of a golden, jewel encrested shield. If the monster equiped with this card is in attack mode, switch it to defense mode. If "Guardian Ruisen" is in your hand, special summon it in defense mode.**_

_**Guardian Ruisen**_

_**Light**_

_**500/3000**_

_**5**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**This warrior is the most defensive of the Guardians, few can get past him. This monster can only be normal summoned with the card "Gem Shield-Ruisen" on the field. As long as this card is active, it is the only monster that the opponent can attack.**_

_**Dark World Supression**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of Goldd blasting a peasent while laughing. Discard two cards from your hand to destroy one monster on the field, this card cannot be negated.**_

**00000**

_**Well, after a long wait, that chapter is finally done.**_

_**Next time, a duelist emerges that seems to be smitten with Darren, maybe it has something to do with the title. Find out in, "Dark Scorpion Tragedy of Love."**_


	21. Dark Scorpion Tragedy of Love

_To be honest, I'm a little bored, and I thought this might be interesting._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, original or GX._

**00000**

_**Ever since I first built my deck, I've encountered a few weirdoes who thought I was a thief because I had the Dark Scorpions, not true of course, but they didn't know it, it took Katie's help to get me out of those duels.**_

_**Now, I'm faced with another sort of duelist, but I kinda doubt that Katie can get me out of this one.**_

_**Especialy since I have no idea where Katie is right now.**_

_**Heaven help me, I don't know if I can win this one.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 21:**

**DARK SCORPION TRAGEDY OF LOVE**

**0000000000**

**00000**

An hour later, it gets too dark for anyone to see anything, so they finally get to sleep.

Darren is restless, he tosses and turns as he sees images of the Dark Scorpions, and Makyura the Destructor. Finally he wakes up, sweating.

"I gotta relax, maybe a walk can help," he thinks out loud, and steps over the sleeping forms of his friends, and walks down a path into the woods.

**00000**

Darren yawns as he reaches the edge of a cliff overlooking a valley below.

"Wow, this is a great view!" He says, stretching out.

He then notices something, an observatory situated a little ways up the cliff.

_I wonder why they put that there, _he thinks, and starts to head up towards the observatory.

However, about halfway there, something wraps around his leg, and he trips, falling unconcious.

**00000**

The next morning, Katie, Wendy, and Renee wake up to find Darren's tent (the girls had a sperate tent for, obvious reasons), empty.

"Where could he have gone?" Katie wonders out loud. "My dad told me about the Eliminators in the Duelist Kingdom tournament, that they would attack unsuspecting duelists, but I doubt that's the case here."

"And I sense no trace of Shadow Powers," Wendy says, she is meditating at the moment, focusing her _ki _energy on finding the missing Darren. "No luck, maybe he's knocked out or something."

"Well, lets start looking!" Renee says, and they gather their stuff, and start looking around.

**00000**

Darren on the other hand, is waking up, only to find that he's hanging upside-down from his ankles in a cave-like room.

"So, this is how Luke felt," he says with a slight chuckle. "Alright, Makyura, show yourself!"

"Makyura? Who's that?" A femenine voice from behind him says, and a knife slashes forward, cutting the rope.

Darren gets to his feet slowly, and standing before him is a beautiful young lady about his age with short black hair. She's wearing a tight black leather top and pants with a pair of sunglasses, and she looks Darren from behind her sunglasses. She pockets a knife, and gives Darren a smile. One might confuse her for a biker girl, or...

"Are you supposed to look like Trinity from the Matrix movies?" Darren asks. "If this is some weird way of challenging me, your entrance needs work."

"To be honest, Darren, I've been watching you," the girl says. "And, yes, I like this outfit, and on top of that I think it goes well with my deck type. My name is Lee Simmons."

"Umm, nice to meet you, I think," Darren says, offering a handshake, which Lee reluncatantly accepts. "So, why did you kidnap me?"

"Well Darren, to be honest, I find you attractive," Lee says. "And You have an interesting deck type, so I'll make a deal with you. We duel, if you win, you can return to your friends alone, and I'll go about my merry way, but if you lose, you still go back to your friends, but I come along, and you'll owe me a date."

"Fine," Darren says, and activates his duel disk. _Well, this guy's as good as any,_ he thinks, taking a card out. "I'll pick, the leader of the Dark Scorpions, Don Zaloog!"

The eye-patched king in exile appears next to him.

"What a coincidence, I'm also going to pick the leader of a gang, this one is an all female group known as the _Femme Fatales_, and I'll pick their leader, Zelda the Gracefull!" Lee says, and smirks.

A blonde haired woman wearing armor cut down to reveal significant clevage, and carrying a longsword appears next to Lee.

_"About time you picked me as your deckmaster, Darren,"_ Don says to him.

_"Sorry, so what does your deckmaster ability do?" _Darren asks.

_"All of my teammates will gain 500 attack points as long as I'm your deckmaster," _Don says, and Darren nods.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"Ladies first," Lee says, giving Darren a smile as she draws. "I'll start by setting one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Darren draws. "Alright, I'll start by summoning this guy, he's 6 feet tall, when he jumps up, Chick the Yellow (1000/1000 + 500), in attack mode!" He says, and the blonde-haired member of the Dark Scorpions appear, wielding his mallet. "And don't forget, my deckmaster ability gives him 500 more attack points. I'll place one card face down, and Chick will attack your face down monster with Dark Scorpion Smash!"

Chick nods, and charges at the face down monster, which is flipped up and revealed as a young girl at least 7 years old wearing an outfit similar to Zelda's.

"Thanks, that was my Sammi the Scout (500/500), when she's destroyed as a result of battle, I can add another member of her team to my hand as long as her attack points are less than 2000," Lee says, and takes a card out of her deck. "Is that all?"

"Yeah," Darren says.

Lee draws, and giggles. "Alright, I summon the monster I searched for, Kayla the Sorceress (1200/200 +400) in attack mode!" she says, and a spellcaster in red robes and wielding a staff appears. "And you also can see how my deckmaster works, while Don Zaloog only powers his teammates up by 500, Zelda powers up all of her teammates attacks by their level times 100. If this was so for one of your Dark Scorpions, it wouldn't be much I know, but the Femme Fatales levels range from 1, like Sammi, to 8. And on top of that, there are a few other combos I won't get into yet."

_Level 8 thieves? Thats not good,_ Darren thinks. _Probably the only thing I have to match up to one of those is my Crescent Moon Queen, and then I'd have to draw a power-up for her._

"Now Kayla, destroy his Chick!" Lee commands, and Kayla blasts poor Chick with her staff, and Darren's life points fall to 3900. "And now, this activates the special ability of Kayla, I get to take a specific monster out of my deck, and play it on my second main phase, so welcome to the field, a combo that not even the Dark Scorpions can pull off, its called union! So I summon the first pet of the Femme Fatale Thieves, Cat Thief-Angel (200/1000)!"

A beautiful white cat with a black colar appears.

"And she's a union monster, so she can equip to a specific monster, Kayla to be exact."

The cat slinks over to Kayla, and the young sorceress picks up the cat, and lets her rest on her shoulder.

"But we'll get to that next turn, your move," Lee says.

Darren draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Darren says. "Lee, can I ask you a question, why are you doing this?"

Lee shifts her feet a little, looking sort of uncomfortable.

"Its okay if you don't want to tell me," Darren says, watching the girl.

"No, I guess I do owe you an explination," Lee says, looking at Zelda, who gives her a reassuring nod. "To be honest, Darren, I'm a little jealous of you, you have friends who care about you, your a good duelist, and you seem to have a purpose in life. I saw your duel against that McBride guy, I understand what its like to have to put up with bullies like that."

She removes her sunglasses, across her right eye is a scar, but thats not the only interesting thing about her, her eyes are foggy, and full of sadness...

"You, you're blind," Darren says.

"Yeah," Lee admits, replacing her sunglasses. "I'm sure your friend Wendy mentioned her aunt Serenity and her eye problem on several occasions. Well, I was born with the same condition that almost cost Serenity Wheeler her eyesight, but unlike Serenity, I didn't have an older brother to care for me, and by the time I was 5, I had become permanently blind, but in a sense, I can see. These sunglasses, though they look normal, have a special enchantment on them, I can see the spirits of Duel Monsters, thats what brought me to the Femme Fatales, the entire set was given to me by Pegasus himself, after I won a tournament he was sponsoring. He was the only person who ever really showed that they cared for me, it was much too late to save my sight, but I had learned to manage without it.

"Of course, you can probably guess I've never failed a math class in my life."

"True," Darren says. "I can understand all of that, but why target me specificaly?"

"I can see more than monster spirits, I can also sort of see people too," Lee says, nudging her sunglasses. "I saw that you had a kind soul, and you seemed nice, I guess I just went a little overboard."

"Interesting," Darren says, blushing a little. "Well, as flattered as I am, we're still dueling, and its your turn."

Lee draws, and looks her hand over. "Alright, I'll summon Dawn the Specter (1300/1200 + 300)!" She says, and a figure appears in the shadows, with the slight glint of a dagger showing. "She's a thief that perfers to hide in the shadows, and only attacks when the time is right. Which I think is now, Dawn, attack his face down monster, Fatale Specter Slash!"

Darren gets a glimpse of a woman in the familiar outfit with long raven black hair as she attacks the face down monster, but is thrown back.

"That was my own female thief, Meanae the Thorn (1000/1800 + 500)!" Darren says, and Lee's life points fall to 3700. "Now, I get to add a card to my hand with Dark Scorpion in its name," Darren says, and takes a card out of his deck.

"Fine, but remember this? Unlike Kayla's effect, Dawn's is activated when an attack fails," Lee says, and takes a card out of her deck. "Now I can summon the Wolf Thief-Fang (500/1200)!"

A loud howl is heard, and a silver wolf appears.

"And since she is also a union monster, she can equip to Dawn."

The wolf happily bounds over to where Dawn is waiting in the shadows, the thief in the darkness smiles, and scratches Fang behind the ears.

"One card face down, your move, Darren," Lee says.

_Okay, she has 2 members of her gang on the field, and two of their unions, I have to admit, this girl has a good strategy,_ Darren thinks, and draws. "I'll place this card face down, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Lee draws. "Alright, I'm going to activate a spell card, its called Fatale Enticement, this card forces your face down monster into face up attack mode, and dosen't activate any flip effects," she says, and the face-down monster which is revealed to be a Gravekeeper's Guard (1000/1900), flips up, and takes an attack stance. "Now, I activate Cost Down," she says, and discards a card from her hand. "Now I can summon this monster without a tribute, Lorena the Pyro (1800/1500 +500)!"

A burst of fire appears on her side of the field, and it falters, and a young woman with short red hair and the usual outfit with fire burning in either hand.

"Now Lorena, attack his Guard with Fatale Flame Burst Attack!"

Lorena cups her hands, and blasts the gravekeeper with fire, and Darren's life points fall to 2600.

"And since she dealt you at least 1000 points of damage, I can special summon Phoenix Thief-Fara (500/1000)!"

Another burst of fire appears, and a red bird appears with a loud, beautiful song.

"Since she's a union monster, she can equip to Lorena!"

The phoenix flies up, and Lorena holds out an arm, and lets the Phoenix rest on her wrist.

"Your move," Lee says.

Darren draws. "Alright, I summon Cliff the Trap Remover (1200/1000 + 500), in attack mode!" He says, and the Master of disarment of the Dark Scorpions appears.

"Okay, what's the point of this?" Lee asks.

"This, I activate the spell card, Dark Scorpion Shiv, this card powers up one of the Dark Scorpions by 700," Darren says, and a sword appears in Cliff's hands, and his attack rises to 2400. "Now attack Lorena with Dark Scorpion Slash!"

Cliff dives at the thief and slashes through her, and Lee's life points fall to 3600.

"Now, I'll make you discard two cards thanks to his effect," Darren says, and Cliff tosses a dagger at Lee's deck, and two cards are sent to the graveyard.

**00000**

"Still no luck?" Katie asks Wendy and Renee.

"Nope," Renee says, and Wendy shakes her head. "I saw an observatory farther up the ridge, but it was locked."

"Its worth a look," Katie says, and the 3 girls head up the hill towards the observatory.

**00000**

"My move," Lee says, and draws, and then a burst of fire appears on the field, and Lorena rises out of it. "Unlike most union monsters, the Femme Fatale Pets aren't destroyed when the equiped monster is attacked, instead, effects are sometimes activated, like when Lorena is destroyed with Fara equipped to her, she is resurrected next turn."

Lorena grins at Darren, and a ball of fire appears in her hand.

"Now, now, Lorena, you'll have to wait one turn before attacking again," Lee says, and Lorena grumbles. "Alright, I'll place this card face down, and activate a field spell, the mighty Mausoleum of the Emperor!"

A huge temple appears around them with torches all around, and ghastly statues of chinese soldiers are beneath them.

_I've heard of this card, Aster Phoenix used it once, but what did it do?_ Darren thinks to himself.

"Alright, and so I don't have to pay a cent for this card's effect, I activate a card that not even Aster Phoenix thought of using for this field spell, Spell Economics!" Lee says, and a spellbook appears on the field and opens. "Now, let me show you the true fury of the Femme Fatales!"

A statue appears on the rocky bridge that the Mausoleum had transformed the observatory into.

"I sacrifice one of these tokens, normally that would cost me 1000 life points, but since I have Spell Economics, I can do it without a problem, and now I'll summon this monster, Tawny the Amazon (2200/2000 + 600)!"

A woman in the familiar outfit of the Femme Fatale's appears, but she is muscular and bulky, and has a mean look on her face as she carries a battle-axe.

"Now, I activate the spell card, Amazonian Charge, this card lets me special summon Tawny's pet to the field, so give a warm welcome to Horse Thief-Star (600/1200)!"

A mare comes galloping up. She is black, with a white star on her forhead.

"Wait a minute, I'm not stupid, I know for a fact that union monsters count as equip spells when used, how is it that your m/t slots only have your Spell Economics active?" Darren demands.

"Its simple, while its true that my monsters are classified as union types, they're in a class all of their own. First of all, they cannot be destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed, as a matter of fact, they're more like counters, they form on the proper monster when summoned, and remain even after the monster is destroyed, the only way you can actually get rid of them is with the spell card Counter Cleaner, and there's no way you have one of those," Lee says. "Alright, now, I'm moving my deckmaster to the field, go, Zelda the Gracefull (2900/2300 + 800)!"

The blonde-haired thief does a perfect flip, swinging her longsword as she takes a stance next to her teammates.

_Actually, I do have Counter Cleaner as a weapon to use against Katie's combos, but its still in my deck, so unless I draw it soon, she might win!_ Darren thinks.

"With her attack points, she's the most lethal lady in duel monsters, not counting Ariel Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons of course, after all, they are considered female monsters as well," Lee says. "But I digress, since I summoned her to the field with 4 other teammates, her other ability activates, and I can use her pet now, go, Dragon Thief-Lorana (1200/2500)!"

There is a huge roar as a golden dragon appears on the field, and Zelda climbs on its back.

"Now, I can activate my trap card I've been saving, go Fatale Forward Rush!"

A trap flips up with the image of 8 female thieves, Sammi in front snickering.

"This card works sort of like your Dark Scorpion Combination, and it can only be activated when 5 members of the Femme Fatale gang is on the field with their pets, now they can all attack you directly for 500 points each, for a total of 2500 life points!"

"So first, Kayla Attack with Fatale Sorcery Attack!"

The sorceress blasts through Darren's life points.

"Now Dawn, hit him with Fatale Specter Slash!"

The thief in the shadows goes forth, and slashes at Darren.

"Lorena, your turn, Fatale Flame Burst!"

The pyromaniac laughs, and blasts poor Darren with fire.

"Tawny, attack with Fatale Axe Smash!"

The amazon warrior slashes through Darren with her battle axe.

"And Zelda, finish it off with Fatale Longarm Slash!"

The leader draws her sword, and cuts Darren right down the middle.

Darren's life points fall to 100.

"Darren!" Katie shoutsas the girls run in, and see what's going on. "Okay, Darren, what's going on?"

"This girl here forced me into this duel, which I'm obviously losing," Darren says dejectedly.

"Can you get on with this pep talk, I wanna finish my turn," Lee says.

"Darren, you gotta win this duel, don't forget, no matter how high the odds are, you can always win it if you trust in your deck!" Wendy shouts.

_Yeah, like they always do, like even when the going gets tough, Katie and Wendy always pull the right card at the right time, even Renee to a certain extent, maybe there is something to this heart of the cards stuff. Alright, Heart of the Cards, if your really out there, do your thing for me next turn,_ Darren says.

"Alright, now their individual effects are activated, first Kayla's effect lets me show you a card in my hand," Lee says, and shows her last card, a spell called Fatale Revival. "Now you have to discard 3 cards from your deck that are also spell cards."

Darren takes a Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, Necrovalley, and Dark Scorpion Sneak Attack out of his deck and places them in his graveyard.

"Next, Dawn makes you discard half of your hand, and I get to draw the same amount of cards," Lee says.

Darren discards 2 of his 4 cards, and Lee draws 2.

"Now, Lorena's effect is activated, you guess one card in my hand's type, if you guess right, I lose my hand and 500 life points, if you guess wrong, you lose your hand and 500," Lee says, shifting her cards around a little.

"Alright, I think that card on the right is a... Monster," Darren says, and Lee growls, showing it as monster called Minnie the Small, and Lee discards her hand, then her life points fall to 3100.

"Okay, then Tawny's effect forces you to discard cards from your deck equal to the number of cards on your field and hand," Lee says.

The Amazon grabs 5 cards off the top of Darren's deck, and tosses them into the graveyard.

"And now Zelda's effect is activated, and we both get to draw 6 cards, but then we discard any monsters we draw," Lee says and draws 6 cards. Looking over them she discards four cards called Hattie the Prophet, Bunny Thief-Fuzzy, Mouse Thief-Shawndra, and

Hawk Thief-Harriet. "Now, I get to draw 2 more cards," she says, and does so.

Darren draws his 6 cards, but only has to discard two monsters Crescent Moon Queen and the End of Anubis, so he draws once.

"Katie, do you think Darren can win?" Renee asks.

"I'm not sure, I know the weakness of this girl's monsters, and that Darren has one card in his deck that can stop it, so he'll have to be very lucky," Katie answers, and Renee nods. "He can't even use his Negative Energy Spell now, all of his opponent's monsters are strong Dark monsters."

Darren draws. "Alright, I'm going to activate this card, remember it, Counter Cleaner!"

A giant Robot shaped like the Pot of Greed comes in and sucks up all of the pets.

"Oh no, when the pets are destroyed that way when equiped to their owners, the owners are destroyed as well!" Lee says.

"And since you summoned Zelda to the field, you lose!" Darren says as the 5 thieves explodes.

Final Ruling:

Darren: 100 Life points, 6 DP

Lee: Loss by deckmaster, 4 DP

"I'm sorry Darren, can you ever forgive me?" Lee asks Darren with her head bowed.

"Its okay Lee, I'm sorry too, I didn't know what to think of you at first, but you really are a great duelist, and if you don't make it to the finals, at least you'll have your memories of this tournament, and I hope we can meet again someday, and maybe I'll be able to treat you to a real date," Darren says, and Lee smiles, giving him a kiss on the cheek making him blush.

"Thanks, your a doll," Lee says, and walks out of the observatory.

"Darren, do you really love that girl?" Katie asks.

"You know, I have no idea," Darren says. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

**00000**

_Don Zaloog's deckmaster ability was used by Cyber Commander, he gets full credit._

**00000**

_**Femme Fatale-Zelda the Gracefull**_

_**Dark**_

_**8**_

_**2900/2300**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**The fearless leader of the Femme Fatale gang. She is strong, trustworthy, and beautiful. When this monster is summoned to the field by means of special summon, add Dragon Thief-Lorana to your hand.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Sammi the Scout**_

_**Dark**_

_**1**_

_**500/500**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**The scout of the Femme Fatales, Sammi's small size makes it easier for her to get into tight spaces where her teammates might not fit. FLIP: When this monster is flipped face-up, add a monster with "Femme Fatale" in its name to your hand.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Kayla the Sorceress**_

_**Dark**_

_**4**_

_**1200/200**_

_**Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**The intellectual of the Femme Fatales. Kayla is quite skilled at using spells to help her teammates. When this monster deals damage to your opponent's life points, summon Cat Thief-Angel from your hand or deck to the field.**_

_**Cat Thief-Angel**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**200/1000**_

_**Beast/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Kayla the Sorceress," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Kayla, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: Show one card in the user's hand, and if it is a monster card, the opponent discards 5 monsters, if it is a spell card, the opponent discards 3 spell cards, and if it is a trap card, the opponent discards 2 trap cards.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Dawn the Specter**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**1300/1200**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**The stealthy member of the Femme Fatales, they say that no one has ever been able to capture her. When an attack fails, special summon Wolf Thief-Fang from your hand or deck.**_

_**Wolf Thief-Fang**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**500/1200**_

_**Beast/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Dawn the Specter," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Dawn, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: The opponent discards half the cards in his/her hand, and the user draws the same amount.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Lorena the Pyro**_

_**Dark**_

_**5**_

_**1800/1500**_

_**Pyro/Effect**_

_**The pyromaniac of the Femme Fatales, she has been known to burn down buildings, and blow up things for her gang. When this monster deals the opponent 1000 points of damage or more, summon Phoenix Thief-Fara to the field.**_

_**Phoenix Thief-Fara**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**500/1000**_

_**Winged-Beast/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Lorena the Pyro," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Lorena, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: The opponent selects a card in the user's hand, if he/she guesses right, the user discards their hand, and pays 500 life points. If they guess wrong, they discard their hadn and lose 500 life points. When Lorena is destroyed with this monster equiped to her, she is resurrected next turn.**_

_**Fatale Enticement**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of Zelda approaching a guard with her teammates sneaking around to get the treasure. One face down monster on your opponent's side of the field is flipped face up in attack mode, and no effects are activated.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Tawny the Amazon**_

_**Dark**_

_**6**_

_**2200/2000**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**The strength and endurence of the Femme Fatales, but at heart she is kind and considerate to all around her, as long as they're not rich. When the opponent is about to attack another monster on your side of the field, discard one card from your hand and summon "Horse Thief-Star" to the field.**_

_**Amazonian Charge**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of Tawny charging forward, swinging her battle axe, and Star galloping behind her. When "Femme Fatale-Tawny the Amazon" is on the field, special summon Horse Thief-Star from your deck, hand, or graveyard.**_

_**Horse Thief-Star**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**600/1200**_

_**Beast/Effect**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Tawny the Amazon," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Tawny, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: The opponent discards cards from their deck equal to the total number of cards on their field and hand.**_

_**Dragon Thief-Lorana**_

_**Dark**_

_**5**_

_**1200/2500**_

_**Dragon/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Zelda the Gravefull," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Zelda, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: Both players draw 6 cards, discard any monsters they draw, and draw cards equal to half the amount of cards they discarded.**_

_**Fatale Forward Rush**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of all 8 thieves charging forward. This card can only be activated when the user has at least 5 monsters with "Femme Fatale" in their name and are all equiped with their pets. All monsters that meet that description may attack the opponent directly for 500 points each.**_

_**Fatale Revival**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of the Femme Fatale gang in a graveyard. Discard your entire hand to revive all monsters with "Femme Fatale" in their names from the graveyard as well as their pets.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Minnie the Small**_

_**Dark**_

_**2**_

_**600/200**_

_**The older sister of Sammi, Minnie watches out for her younger sister, and helps the gang when she can. If "Femme Fatale-Sammi the Scout" is on the field, and is attacked, you can discard a card from your hand to negate the attack, and summon "Mouse Thief-Shawndra" to the field.**_

_**Mouse Thief-Shawndra**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**200/100**_

_**Beast/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Minnie the Small," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Minnie, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: Discard 2 cards from the opponent's hand.**_

_**Bunny Thief-Fuzzy**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**100/100**_

_**Beast/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Sammi the Scout," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Sammi, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: Add any card related to the Femme Fatale's from your deck or graveyard to your hand.**_

_**Femme Fatale-Hattie the Prophet**_

_**Dark**_

_**7**_

_**2500/2100**_

_**Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**A very skilled prophet, some say she is never wrong in her predictions. Pick one card at random from your opponent's hand, and guess if it is monster, trap, or spell. If you guessed right, summon "Hawk Thief-Harriet" to the field. If you guessed wrong, discard a card from your hand.**_

_**Hawk Thief-Harriet**_

_**Dark**_

_**3**_

_**750/1400**_

_**Winged-Beast/Effect/Union**_

_**One of the 8 pets that guard and give companionship to the Femme Fatale Gang. This card, when summoned along side "Femme Fatale-Hattie the Prophet," she automaticaly counts as a counter, and is to be placed on the said monster. A monster with this monster as a token is destroyed when the token is destroyed. This card isn't destroyed when the equiped monster is destroyed. As long as this card is equiped to Hattie, activate the following effect when she damages the opponent's life points: Take one card from your opponent's hand at random, and add it to your own.**_

**00000**

**Deckmasters:**

_**Femme Fatale-Zelda the Gracefull: Femme Power-Add attack to any monster on the field with "Femme Fatale" in their name equal to 100x the number of stars the monster has. Instant Summon: When this monster is summoned from the deckmaster position onto your field, summon "Dragon Thief-Lorana" to the field.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that chapter is finally over.**_

_**Next time, we give Katie and the gang a break and check in on Ariel again. This time she is dueling against her own brother in a match for the future of Kaiba Corp. Who will win? Find out in, "Rivalry of Warlords."**_


	22. Rivalry of Warlords

_I've decided to give Katie and her friends a break, and have Ariel duel this chapter._

_After all, a little sibling rivalry never hurt anyone..._

_Much._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Well, Ariel here again. You know, I've had a lot of people challenge me because of my skills, some challenge me because of my looks and they want a date with me, And the really bad ones challenge me because I'm a girl, and they think it'll make for an easy duel.**_

_**However, one of the most annoying duelists to ever challenge me is my own brother.**_

_**You see, when I was 14, my dad gave me controll of Kaiba Corp, but Paul insisted on taking controll because he was the male sibling.**_

_**The issue was settled with a duel, of course. Paul used warriors, and at the time I was still working with a water deck as opposed to what I have now, but I won it in the end.**_

_**Now he's back, and our duel begins anew, and apparently he has some new tricks up his sleave.**_

_**Well, I'm sure me and my monsters can win...**_

_**  
After all, the Blue-Eyes fights for me, not him.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 22:**

**RIVALRY OF WARLORDS**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Somewhere along a lakeshore, Ariel and Kisara are finally able to relax after a tiring day dealing with the Resistance. It was small, and had its share of problems, but when it came right down to it, the Resistance was stronger than it seemed...

Of course, that's what they thought about the Quillian Resistance, but that's another story.

"Ariel, there seems to be something bugging you right now, I can tell," Kisara says, running a brush through her long hair.

To be honest, something was bugging Ariel, her dueling record was almost spotless. Out of 300 total duels she had competed in, she had won 298 of them, losing only two, one against Katie, and the other against her father.

And on top of that, she was the uncontested world champion, the best of the best, even the leader of the entire world, Potentate Jospeh Strongheim (remember that name, it will be important in a later fanfiction), recongnized her skill, but she knew that no matter how strong she was, it would never last.

Maybe it was because she was shaken by her loss to Katie, maybe it was a different reason, but Ariel had this nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen.

She shrugs, and looks at her duel disk which registers her at 8 duel points.

Her last two duels had been interesting to say the least. Her first opponent was a duelist who used a deck strategy that relied a lot on low leveled normal monsters with high attack, Ariel was temporarily set back by Gravity Bind, but she won it in the end. Her second opponent was a chess grandmaster who used an Archfiend deck, that wasn't easy either, but she won that one too once she brought out her Guardian Angel Joan.

She brushes her long hair back, and smiles.

"Yeah, but its nothing major," Ariel says with a shrug.

A young man happens to pass by at that moment. He's about the same height as Ariel with short brown hair, and brown eyes, while wearing a purple trench coat with a black t-shirt and pants.

He sees the two girls, and his eyes narrow.

"Ariel, I wish it was a pleasure to see you," he says.

Ariel looks up at him, and her eyes also narrow as she stands up. "Paul, how did I know you would be here?"

"Uhh, Ariel, who's this?" Kisara asks.

"Paul Kaiba, at your service, lovely lady," Paul says, giving a slight bow out of politeness.

"Don't trust him, Kisara," Ariel says. "Paul tries to show himself as a gentleman, but he's not what he seems to be."

"At least I try to be polite, sister," Paul says, shaking his head. "You've always been the favorite sibling, at first I didn't mind losing that duel against you for control of Kaiba Corp., but then I saw how you flaunted your power. Your now the best duelist in the world, rumors say you meet with Potentate Strongheim on a daily basis..."

"Now that part isn't true," Ariel says. "Oh, we meet every so often, mostly because I'm the best duelist in the world, I think he tries to use that status for his own plans, but I don't even trust the guy, there's something fishy about him."

"Whatever, now you and I are going to duel, and when I win, I'll claim my rightfull title of President of Kaiba Corp," Paul says, and activates his duel disk.

"Fine with me," Ariel says, and does the same. "I pick as my deckmaster, King Dragun!"

A spectral dragon appears.

"Fine, and I'll pick, Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Paul says, and a warrior in metal armor appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" The two siblings say in unison.

Kisara takes a seat on a rock nearby, and watches. _This might be interesting_, she thinks.

"I'll go first," Ariel says, and draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Paul draws. "Alright, now I'll summon my Marauding Captain (1200/400), in attack mode!" He says, and a battle-hardened warrior carrying two swords appears. "Now, I can special summon my Command Knight from my hand!"

A female warrior in ceremonial armor appears.

"And thanks to her effect, she and my captain gains 400 attack points, so their attack is now 1600."

The attack of the two monsters goes up.

"Still using those warriors, huh Paul? You've been hanging out with Uncle Joey again," Ariel says. "Besides, may I remind you that even if you win this duel, dad picked me to hold the Blue-Eyes White Dragons, not you?"

"Dragons ain't my thing," Paul says. "Now Marauding Captain, attack her face down monster!"

The warrior slashes through the face-down monster with his two swords, and a cherub appears.

"That was my skelangel, now I can draw one card since you flipped him face up," Ariel says, and draws one card.

"Fine, now Command Knight, attack her directly!" Paul commands, and the knight slashes at Ariel with a flaming sword, and her life points fall to 2400. "Your move."

Ariel draws. "I set one monster in defense mode, and place one card face down to end my turn," she says.

Paul draws, and looks his hand over. "Alright Ariel, I'm going to place one card face down, and have my Command Knight attack your face down monster!" He commands, and the knight slashes at the face down monster.

Only to be bounced back by a golden fairy.

"That was my Kelbeck, not only do you lose 200 life points, your monster is returned to your hand," Ariel says, and the Command Knight dissapears, and Paul picks the card up as his life points fall to 3800. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, your move," Paul says.

Ariel draws. _Hmm, here's Blue-Eyes number one, but I can't use her yet, and I can't risk my Kelbek right now, so I'll just do this,_ she thinks, taking another card out of her hand. "I'll sacrifice Kelbek to summon this, Airknight Parsanth (1900/1400), in attack mode!"

The fairy centaur appears.

"Now attack his Marauding Captain, Divine Sword Slash!"

The Airknight slashes at the soldier, and he explodes as Paul's life points fall to 3100.

Then suddenly a sword lashes out, and cuts at Ariel, and her life points fall to 1900.

"What?" She demands, and notices that Paul has activated a trap card.

"You triggered my Judgement of the General trap card, this card works like Backfire for when you destroy a warrior monster," Paul says.

"Fine, but since my Airknight damaged your life points, I can draw one card," Ariel says, and draws a card. "I'll place it face down, and end my turn."

Paul draws. "I'll place this card face down, and summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0), in attack mode!" He says, and a group of goblin warriors carrying clubs appears. "Now, attack her Parsanth, Goblin Rush!"

The goblins rush at the Airknight, and it explodes, lowering Ariel's life points to 1500.

"Hold it, Paul, your not the only one who can deal direct damage, go trap card, Attack and Recieve, since I lost life points, you also lose 700 life points!" Ariel says, and Paul's life points fall to 2400.

"Fine," Paul says, and watches as his goblins seem to fall asleep. "Oh, that's right, they switch to defense mode after attacking. Your move."

Ariel draws. "I'll play, Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, and then smiles and discards two. "Alright, Paul, here comes one of my best monsters, I summon Mudora (1500/1800 + 800!), in attack mode!"

A fairy warrior appears, brandishing a egyptian sword.

"He gains 200 attack for every fairy in my graveyard, and counting the one I just sent, that makes 4," she explains, and nods to Mudora. "Now Mudora, destroy his goblins with your Blade of Vengence!"

The fairy warrior cuts through the goblins. Judgement of the General glows, and Ariel's life points fall to 1000.

"Your move."

Paul draws. "I activate my own Gracefull Charity," he says, and draws 3 cards, and discards two. "And now, I'll use Monster Reborn to revive a monster I discarded, one of my strongest, the Sword Hunter (2450/2000!"

A bulky warrior carrying two swords appears.

"Now, destroy her Mudora!"

The warrior slashes through the fairy, and the fairy's sword replaces one of his own as Ariel's life points fall to 950.

"Fine, but it counts as an equip card, and you can only get 2 more," Ariel points out as the Hunter's attack rises to 2650.

"I know, your move," Paul says.

Ariel draws, and what looks like a steely-gray fairy appears behind her, and her life points rise to 1700. "Thanks to Marie the Fallen One, on each of my standby phases, I gain 200 life points. Now, I think I'll activate the spell card, Rise to Grace, I can only use this card when I have at least 4 fairies in my graveyard, and I can remove them from the game, to summon a level 8 or higher fairy monster to the field, and I pick my Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!"

A magnificent angel with short orange hair and long wings carrying a sword appears.

"You know, some Duelists claim that this monster and her fusion counterpart was created in the likeness of the famous Joan of Arc, the famous leader of the French Revolution against the Brittish, but that's not relevant at the moment. I personaly have no opinion on the matter, but Pegasus did do a lot of things like that, such as the B.E.S Monsters from the classic game _Gradius_. But thats not the point right now, the point is, she's stronger than your Sword Hunter, so she'll attack it, with Searing Light of Heaven!"

Joan forms a ball of light in her hand, and blasts the Sword Hunter with it. Ariel's life points fall to 450, but then they rise to 2900, as Paul's falls to 2050.

"Thanks to her effect, I gain life points equal to your monster's original attack points, now I believe its your move."

Paul draws, and smirks. "I activate the spell card, Shield Wall, I'll discard 3 cards from my hand to summon three shield tokens!" He says, and three rocky tokens appears. "And now, I sacrifice them for this, Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400)!"

Lightning strikes, and a warrior in ornate ceremonial armor appears.

"And since I sacrificed three monsters for him, your monster is destroyed!"

Lightning strikes Joan, and she screams as she is blown away.

"Now Gilford, attack her directly, Lightning Sword Slash!"

"Deckmaster activate, Dragon Summoning!" Ariel shouts. "When I'm about to take 2000 or more damage from a direct attack, I can summon a level 4 or lower dragon from my deck to the field in defense mode, and I choose my Koumori Dragon (1500/1200)!"

An ugly purple dragon appears, and takes the hit.

"Fine, your move," Paul says.

Ariel draws. _Okay, I have Polymerization, but the only two cards I have that I can fuse are Blue-Eyes and D.D Warrior Lady, I guess there's nothing left to do, but of course I have my face down card,_ she thinks. "First, I activate a trap card, its called D. Tribe, this turns all monsters on your field into Dragons for one turn!"

Gilford's body is covered with scales, and he grows a tail and wings.

"Now, I activate Polymerization, which lets me fuse together my Blue-Eyes White Dragon and D.D Warrior Lady!"

"What? You can fuse those two together?" Paul says in suprise.

"That's right, and when these two ladies fuse, they form a warrior known as..." Ariel says as the two monsters get sucked into a vortex.

The reult is a beautiful female warrior with white armor, and a shield with the image of a dragon on it.

"**_Dalma the White_** (3500/3000)" Ariel says with a laugh, and the warrior swings her sword. "And now I can use her effect, and take controll of an opposing dragon monster, now do you see why I used D. Tribe?"

Gilford floats over to Ariel's field.

"Now Dalma, finish him off, Sword of Dragon's Soul!" Ariel commands, and the warrior slashes at Paul, and his life points fall to 0.

"I admit defeat, Ariel, you really are the better sibling," Paul says, bowing his head.

"Its okay, Paul, you tried your hardest, and in someways I envy you," Ariel says. "I have a lot of responsibility, running a company and stuff like that, but you, your free to live your life as you see fit, your free to love, free to do your own thing, and I envy you for that."

Paul nods. "See you back at home," he says, and walks off.

Ariel smiles and nods, looking at her Duel Disk, which registers her at 9 points...

She was almost there.

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_Dalama the White was created by Cyber Commander and used in his fanfiction "Yu-Gi-Oh Junior: City of Souls."_

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_**Judgement of the General**_

_**Continuous Trap**_

_**Image of a soldier begging in front of Freed the Matchless General. Everytime the opponent destroys a warrior monster on your field, they take 500 points of damage.**_

_**Rise to Grace**_

_**Spell**_

_**Image of two angels lifting Marie the Fallen One into Heaven. This card can only be activated when you have at least 4 fairy monsters in your graveyard, remove them from the game to special summon a level 8 or higher fairy monster from your hand or deck.**_

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_**Gearfried the Iron Knight-Equip Shattering: As long as this monster is your deckmaster, the opponent cannot use equip cards.**_

_**King Dragun-Dragon Summoning: When your about to take 2000 or more damage from a direct attack, special summon a level 4 or lower dragon to the field from your deck to defend yourself.**_

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_**Well, that's chapter 22, read and review please. Especialy since I now allow Anonymous Reviews again, but no flames.**_

_**Anyway, next time its back to Katie's group, and Katie duels against an opponent specialising in the same monsters that Jaden Yuki uses. Can the Dark Magician Princess beat the Neo Spacians? Find out in, "Neo Space."**_

_**Don't miss it.**_


	23. Neo Space

_Two shows, a generation apart, that is what we have for Yu-Gi-Oh and Yu-Gi-Oh GX._

_Each with a different hero, different deck styles, and yet some similarities._

_Now, the two worlds are about to colide, as the daughters of both heroes fight it out in the dueling arena._

_Who shall emerge the victor in this fight?_

_Anyway, this chapter might have some spoilers for my "Apockalypse at Academia," trillogy (first part) which will continue once I am done with these first three fanfictions in the "Yu-Gi-Oh Generations" series. Yep, thats right fans, this will be a series, once this fanfiction is done, number two will be next, but I won't give anything away just yet._

_Disclaimer: I get a dozen cookies per chapter to say that I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. (goes off to eat her cookies)_

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_**Suprisingly enough, I've always been a fan of comic books, I found the heroes to be, interesting, little did I know that I would someday have to save the world in ways they never did.**_

_**As it turns out, Maximillion Pegasus also loved comics, everyone knows he loved cartoons, but thats suprising in itself. I mean, I know about Zombyra the Dark (it suprises me that they consider that one a superhero), and of course the Destiny Heroes after Renee dueled Aster Phoenix.**_

_**But I'll be honest, this took me by suprise.**_

_**Because my opponent now is the daughter of a duelist almost as famous as my dad.**_

_**Lets see if I can win.**_

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**CHAPTER 23:**

**NEO SPACE**

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At the same time that Ariel and Paul are finishing their duel, Katie and friends are sitting down for lunch.

"I wonder when we're going to find another duel," Darren comments. "I mean, if we're going to make it to the finals, we need to find more duelists, not sit around and eat."

"Does that mean you don't want your lunch?" Renee asks, eyeing Darren's roast beef sandwitch with interest.

"I never said that!" Darren shouts, and Renee shrugs.

"Hey, do you mind if I join you guys?" A voice from behind them asks, and they turn around to see a girl about their age with short blonde hair, and wearing the red blazer of a Sliffer Red student from Duelist Academy. Everyone nods, and she sits down. "I'm Jamie, Jamie Yuki."

The 4 friends introduce each other.

Renee looks behind her, and sees something unexpected, a spiritual form of three of her Guardians, Aitos, Baou, and Elma.

_"Renee, look close at Jamie's shoulder,"_ Aitos says.

Renee looks back at Jamie, and blinks, sitting on Jamie's shoulder, is a transparent Kuriboh with wings, a Winged Kuriboh.

"Jamie, is that a Monster Spirit?" She asks the girl.

"Oh him, yeah," Jamie says, looking at her Winged Kuriboh. "He's been with me all year, since the incident began."

"Oh, what's been going on at Duel Academy?" Katie asks. "And why are you in this tournament, if you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, we've been attacked by demons that call themselves the 8 Plagues of Armageddon," Jamie says. "So far, there's been about 4, the first was an insect duelist, then there was some sort of a shape-shifter that stole the deck of a famous duelist. Its spring break now, and the accademy requested I come here, its part of my grade, but I hope to have some fun while I'm at it."

Katie nods. "So, how's the tournament going for you?" she asks.

"Great, I've already won 8 Duel Points," Jamie says, showing her Duel Disk.

"Darn, I only have 6," Katie says, sulking.

"Then why don't we duel now? Your a Motou, right? Well my dad, is Jaden Yuki, he taught me everything he knows, and I'm sure your father, which I'm sure is Yugi Motou, did the same for you," Jamie says. "So, what do you say, a duel between the two of us to see who is better, the daughter of Yugi Motou, or the daughter of Jaden Yuki?"

Katie grins. "Your on!"

Jamie activates her duel disk, and takes a card out. "Okay, I'll pick as my deckmaster, the Elemental Hero Necroshade!"

A red and black monster with what looks like bony armor covering his body appears.

"And I'll pick... my Magician of Faith!" Katie says, and the cute female magician in purple robes, and carrying a staff ending with a Crescent Moon.

_"Hehe, I was, like, wondering when you would pick me as a deckmaster,"_ She says to Katie in a valey girl voice.

_"Yeah, what does your deckmaster ability do?" _Katie asks.

_"It, like, allows you to take a spell card out of your graveyard once per turn, which is totaly cool, but you have to, like, remove it from the game after you play it, and that's like, a bummer, girl!"_ the Magician says.

_"Yeah, thanks, uhh..." _Katie says.

_"Just call me Faith, like, everyone does," _Faith replies.

_And thats why i never used her before,_ Katie thinks.

"LETS DUEL!" Katie shouts.

"GET YOUR GAME ON!" Jamie shouts at the same time.

(Reader's Poll: Which catchphrase do you like more?)

"Uhh, get your game on?" Katie asks.

"Yeah, I know, but I can't think of a new catchphrase," Jamie says sheepishly. "Mind if I go first?"

"Go ahead," Katie says, looking over her opening hand.

"Okay," Jamie says, and draws. "I'll throw down two face downs, and one monster in defense, your move."

Katie draws. "I summon Gemini Elf (1900/900), in attack mode!" she says, and the twin elves appears. "Now, attack her face down monster, Dual Spell Blast!"

The twins each hold out a hand, and blast at the face down monster which is revealed to be...

The blast bounces back at them, and sitting there is a blocky man with a small red head.

"That was my Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000), a little too strong for your elves, huh?" Jamie says with a laugh as Katie's life points fall to 3900.

"Fine, your move," Katie says.

"Well Darren, for all your complaining, one of us did find a duel," Renee says.

"Yeah, yeah, I wonder how this duel is going to turn out," Darren replies.

"I'd give Katie about a 50-50 chance," Wendy says grimly. "Don't get me wrong, she's a great duelist and all, but Jamie's probably not bad either, after all, Jaden Yuki is her father, and he is considered to be another one of the best duelists in the world."

Jamie draws. "Hmm, lets see here, I think I'll activate the spell card Reasoning, you name a monster level, and I draw until I get a monster, if its the same level, it goes to the graveyard, but if its a different level, it gets summoned to the field."

"Umm, okay, I call 4!" Katie says.

Jamie picks up 3 cards, and then stops. "Too bad, here's the monster I drew, go Elemental Hero Bladedge (2600/1800), in attack mode!"

A golden warrior with two jet plane-like wings, and blades on each wrist appears.

"Don't forget, you have to discard those three cards," Katie points out.

"Not anymore, I activate my trap card, Disgracefull Charity!" Jamie says, and Marie the Fallen One appears behind her, and she places the 3 cards in her hand. "Any cards I discarded this turn go back to my hand."

"Not bad," Katie says.

"Thanks," Jamie says, looking over her hand. "Now, I think I'll set a monster in defense mode, and have Bladedge attack your elves, Slice and Dice attack!"

The golden hero charges at the elves, and cuts through them as Katie's life points fall further to 3200.

"And I'll throwdown a couple more face downs to end my turn," Jamie concludes.

"My draw," Katie says drawing. "I summon, Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and a lesser version of the Dark Magician appears. "Now, I'm going to activate Pot of Greed."

She draws two cards.

"Now, I'll play, Swords of Revealing Light!" She says, and the swords fall around Jamie's field.

Her magician's staff is now glowing silver.

"I'll end my turn there," Katie concludes.

"Well, there's not much I can do, so I'll just draw this one card, and end my turn," Jamie says and draws as one of the swords fades.

Katie draws. "I'm going to use my deckmaster ability now, and take back the Pot of Greed I used last turn, and re-use it," she says, and draws two cards, Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows gold as she slips the spell into her RFP slot. _Hey, this combo, it might work, _she thinks. "Alright, I'll place two cards face down for later, and use my Skilled Dark Magician's effect to summon the Dark Magician from my deck to the field!"

The purple robed spellcaster appears.

"Now, I'll activate Card of Sanctity, so we both draw until we have 6 cards!"

Both girls do so.

"Now, I'll activate Polymerization, and fuse together the Dark Magician on the field, and the Buster Blader in my hand, to form the mighty Dark Paladin (2900/2400), in attack mode!" She says, and a monster that appears to be a stronger Dark Magician, carrying a sword appears.

"Now Dark Paladin, destroy her Bladedge!"

The Paladin slashes through the golden hero, and Jamie's life points fall to 3700.

"Go trap card, Hero Signal x2, now either I can summon two Elemental Heroes from my deck, or discard two cards and summon one level seven or higher Elemental Hero, so I think I'll do the latter," Jamie says, and two spotlights appears in the sky as she discards two cards. "And I pick, Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

A hero in a silver jumpsuit appears.

"Fine, your move," Katie says.

Jamie draws. "I'm going to activate my own Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "Now, I activate a field spell called Neo Space!"

Suddenly, a huge aurora appears around them, Katie looks around a little worriedly.

"And now for my combo, I'm going to summon a little thing called Neo Spacian Aqua Dolphin!"

A monster that looks like a cross between a human and a dolphin appears.

"And now, I'll fuse them together with the effect of the monster I'm going to summon, by shuffling them both back into my deck, I can summon Elemental Hero Aqua Neos (2500/2000 + 500)!"

The two monsters fuse, and Jamie shuffles them both into her deck.

From a vortex appears a monster that is basically half hero, half dolfin.

"Hmm, I wonder if he knows Aquaman," Katie says.

"I doubt it, my new heroes are from out of this world!" Jamie says.

"How about the Martian Manhunter or Superman then?" Katie asks.

"That's not the point, Because I'm now going to use his effect, and by discarding this Sinsister Serpant from my hand..." she says, discarding a card. "And you lose one card at random from your hand.

Aqua Neos blasts Katie's hand, and she groans as the blast hits her Magician's Valkyria, and she discards it.

"Too bad, if you had managed to summon her, I wouldn't have been able to attack any of your other monsters, but too bad," Jamie says, as Katie scowls at her.

_I can still use my combo, that wasn't too big of a loss,_ she thinks.

"Your move," Jamie says, and the second sword fades.

Katie draws. _This will do..._ she thinks. "I activate my trap cards, Pitch Black Power Stone and Miracle Restoring, and I sacrifice two of the counters my stone has to bring back my Dark Magician!"

The purple robed spellcaster appears again.

"Uhh, Wendy, did you know she could do that?" Renee asks.

"Yeah, she mentioned this combo once or twice, she called it the Dark Counter Combo, but this is my first time seeing it in action," Wendy says.

"This might be interesting," Darren says.

"Alright, now I activate the spell card Dedication Through Light and Darkness, so I can special summon the Dark Magician of Chaos!" She says, and the black robed spellcaster appears. "Now, I can take a spell card back from my graveyard, so I'll pick Card of Sanctity," she says, and takes the card out of her graveyard. "And I'll end my turn with one more card face down."

Jamie draws, and looks her cards over. "Alright, I'll save this card for when I need it, but for now I'll pass, and let your swords expire, didn't get much from your three free turns, huh?"

"We'll find out," Katie says, and draws a card. "My faith is rewarded, now watch, as I activate my Gracefull Charity spell," she says, and draws 3, and discards two, she looks over at Faith, who nods. "And now, I'll play a card called Power From the Enemy, and equip it to my Dark Magician of Chaos, raising his attack by 800, 400 for each monster on your field!"

The magician's attack rises to 3600.

"Now, attack her monster, Chaos Scepter Blast!"

The Dark Magician of Chaos spins his scepter, and blasts towards the water hero, but its stopped by a vortex.

"Too bad, you activated my trap card, Negate Attack, which ends your battle phase!" Jamie counters. "To be honest, Katie, I was expecting more of a challenge from you, there's actually students in Sliffer Red who worship your father, and when they heard about you beating Ariel Kaiba, they where thrilled that you had come on the scene, you're getting a fan-following already, and your carreer has barely started!"

"Yeah, I know," Katie says. "Sure I might not be the two-time French National champion like Renee, but I don't go into a big tournamnent hoping to win, I hope to do my best, and if that means I'll win, I'll still be happy. Now its your move."

"But first, I activate my trap card, Hero Call, this lets me place any card in my deck on top of my deck!" Jamie says, and takes a card out of her deck, and places it on top before drawing, and then Sinister Serpent returns to her hand. "Now, I'll use the spell card, Pot of Justice, I discard an Elemental Hero from my deck, and we both draw two cards," she says, and takes a card out of her deck and slips it into the graveyard, then they both draw two cards. "Now, I'm going to activate my deckmaster's effect, I'll discard my Sinister Serpent again, to use his effect of Heroic Necromancy, allowing me to special summon the Elemental Hero Neos I just discarded!"

The silvery elemental hero appears again.

"Now, I summon Neo Spacian Glow Moss (300/900), in attack mode!"

A glowing alien appears.

"Crap, not another fusion!" Darren says.

"Your friend catches on fast, and he's kind of cute," Jamie says, and Darren blushes. "Now, by shuffling these two into my deck, I can summon my Elemental Hero Glow Neos (2500/2000 + 500), in attack mode!" She says, and a huge glowing warrior appears. "And now, I'll activate this spell card, Hero Dice, the die rolls, and depending on the result, an effect will be activated!"

A giant die with legs appears, and rolls, it lands on a...

6!

"Now, one of my Heroes can attack you directly, so Aqua Neos, hit her!"

Aqua Neos blasts Katie with a stream of water, she screams, as her life points fall to 200.

"Impressive, is that all?" Katie asks.

"No, Glow Neos, attack her Dark Paladin!" Jamie commands, and the hero blasts through the paladin, and Katie's life points fall again to 100. "Your move."

Katie draws, thanks to her equip spell, her Dark Magician of Chaos was at 4400 attack, since Jamie had 4 monsters on the field, but unless she draws something good, it was only a matter of time before she was defeated.

Katie looks at the card, and smiles. "Now, I'm going to summon a monster that should look familiar to you, its called Winged Kuriboh (300/200), in attack mode!"

A little Kuriboh with wings appears.

"And also, I'll reclaim my Swords of Revealing Light, which I'll play now!"

The swords fall around Jamie again.

"And I'll place this card face down, to end my turn."

Jamie draws. "Perfect, I activate Climax Hour, so in 3 turns, if I draw a monster, its automaticaly special summoned to the feild!" She says, and Katie smiles.

"Doesn't matter," she says.

"Fine, I'm using my Glow Neos' special ability, and I'll destroy your Swords of Revealing light, and don't forget to put them in the RFP slot," Jamie says as the swords shatter.

_"Oh no, that was, like, your only defense!"_ Faith says.

_"No it wasn't, because I have a plan,"_ Katie responds, looking at her face down card.

"And since my monster destroyed a spell card, he can attack you directly!" Jamie commands, and Glow Neos charges at Katie.

"No, if this attack hits Katie loses!" Renee shouts.

"Have faith, people!" Wendy says.

"Go spell card, Trascendant Wings, by discarding two cards from my hand, I can sacrifice my Winged Kuriboh, for Winged Kuriboh LV 10 (300/200)!" Katie says, and a dragon helmet appears on top of the Winged Kuriboh, and its wings grow much, much larger.

"Wait, no, Glow Neos, stop your attack!" Jamie screams.

"Its too late, you've given him a target, and my trap is waiting for you..." Katie says.

No one is entirely sure what happened next, the minute Glow Neos reaches Katie's field, the Winged Kuriboh LV 10 explodes, sending up a huge cloud of dust. When it fades, Katie is still standing at 100 life points, but Jamie has been knocked down, and has 0 left.

Both duelists are at 7 Duel Points.

"Wow, that was a sweet match, lets throw down again some time!" Jamie says.

"I look forward to it," Katie says with a smile, and the two duelists shake hands, and go their seperate ways.

"Hey Katie, exactly how did you beat Jamie with that card?" Renee asks.

"When my side is attacked with Winged Kuriboh LV 10 on the field, I can sacrifice it to destroy all opposing monsters, and the opponent takes damage equal to the destroyed monster's total attack points," Katie explains.

"Cool," Darren says.

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_All cards not out in America yet are used by Jaden in various episodes of season 2._

_Credit for the Dark Counter Combo goes to Neomage._

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_**Pot of Justice**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of an urn with the symbol of the Elemental Heroes and the Destiny Heroes on it. Discard one card with "Elemental Hero" or "Destiny Hero" from your deck to let all players draw 2 cards.**_

_**Hero Signal x2**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of two Hero Signals high above Skyscraper. Activate this card when the opponent destroys a monster. Either special summon two Elemental Heroes of four or less stars from your deck to the field, or discard two cards from your hand to summon a level 7 or higher Elemental Hero from your deck to the field.**_

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_**Elemental Hero Necroshade-Heroic Necromancy: Discard one card from your hand, and revive a monster with "Hero" in its name from the graveyard.**_

_**Magician of Faith-Spell Revival: Once per turn, take a spell card out of your graveyard and put it in your hand. Once the card is destroyed, it is removed from the game.**_

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_**That was pretty close, one of the closest duels to date.**_

_**Next chapter: Its Wendy's turn again, and she's facing a musclehead with no respect for the female gender. He's a coward who hides behind his defenses, but can Katie break through this line of defense? Find out in, "Stop Defense."**_


	24. Stop Defense

_Well, this fanfiction could be a little better with the reviewers, but I try my hardest._

_As I mentioned last chapter, there will be a sequal, I'll at least give you the title, but that's all I'll give you for now. It will be called, "Yu-Gi-Oh Generations: Shadows of 10,000 Years."_

_To be honest, I never thought I'd write a fanfiction that got this far, I'd like to thank Vyser Dragoon for being the 40th reviewer of this fanfiction, the most reviews I've had for any story! throws more confetti Please bring on more._

_Wow, this chapter was done fast, please enjoy now._

_Disclaimer: Still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or the Left Behind books, where the plot device for Strongheim came from._

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_**I've been through a lot in my day, and sometimes I wonder just how I can tollerate men.**_

_**As far as Dueling is concerned, some men have it in their heads that girls use specific cards, and those cards only, so most are suprised when they see me (or Katie or Renee for that matter) duel using our decks.**_

_**The even worse kind is the duelists that think girls shouldn't even be dueling, that we should be cooking or something.**_

_**And even worse is the duelist that thinks he can challenge a girl for an easy way to get a date through a bet or something.**_

_**And my current opponent? Combine collums A and C, and you have what he's like.**_

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**CHAPTER 24:**

**STOP DEFENSE**

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After they say good-bye to Jamie, Katie and her friends continue on down a trail through a dense forest, when they come out onto what looks like the base of a mountain, seated there is some hot springs.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a break and relax," Katie says, and her friends shrug, and they move into seperate parts of the forest to change.

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"Wendy, what is your opinion on what's been happening?" Katie asks her friend as she pulls on a baby-blue one piece suit. "I mean since the disaperances, we've had wars, plagues, famine, I've heard every theory from Alien invasion to the second coming, what do you think?"

"Well, my sensei had me read a lot of ancient texts," Wendy replies, putting on her own green bikini. "My personal opinion, if that's what your asking, is that most likely we are living in the end times, described in the book of revelation, the Tribulation."

"You mean that theory that the Strongheim Conspiracy Theorists base themselves on? Gimme a break, they call Strongheim the Antichrist," Renee says, already wearing her black bikini. "Jospeh Strongheim is a pacifist, 172 nations on this planet, and every one of them agreed to lay down their weapons, set aside their differences, all in the name of peace!"

"My sensei interpreted this differently, he pointed out to me certain texts in Revelations, that say the Antichrist will lure the world into a false peace," Wendy says.

"And the book of Revelation also says that he'll be like unto a leopard, with feet of a bear, and a mouth like a lion, and seven heads and 10 horns and 10 crowns, each head bearing a word of blasphemy! Do you see anything like that around these days?" Renee points out.

"Its symbolic, each head representing a year the Antichrist will rule the world! The horns represent his power, and the crowns represent the 10 kings and kingdoms of the world," Wendy points out.

This is where Renee is left at a loss for words, she can't seem to think of a good enough counter-argument, so she just turns, and says "Hmph."

"Come on Wendy, Renee, don't argue, if we're going to win this, we'll have to stand united, not divided!" Katie says, trying to calm her two friends down, then again, a short girl vs. a samurai and a Karate black-belt would be a little mis-matched.

"Fine, maybe a soak in the hot springs will help," Renee thinks, and walks back to the hot springs, Wendy and Katie follows.

**00000**

Katie sighs contently, seated back as she is warmed by the springs, it almost makes her forget her troubles.

Almost, about a few seconds after she gets settled down, Wendy and Renee start arguing again, Katie sighs, Darren looks fed-up, and Yami appears in spectral form next to Katie.

_"Those two still going at it?"_ he asks her.

_"Yeah, you ask a simple question, and this happens,"_ Katie replies.

_"Well, you try your best,"_ Yami replies.

Finally, the two get sick and tired of arguing, and just stop talking to each other altogether.

"Ha ha, nothing like watching a catfight to pass the time!" A voice from nearby says, and the 4 friends look up to see a duelist.

He's a young man about their age, with short greacy black hair, and wearing a white muscle shirt and blue jean shorts.

"Name's Jackson, and you lovely ladies seem to be in a spot of trouble."

"Yeah, we're being tormented by a guy who thinks he's Don Juan," Wendy says with spite.

"No, its that scrawny punk over there," Jackson says, jerking a thumb at Darren who looks furious. "Why don't you lovely ladies dump him here, and come with a real man like me?"

"Do you want the short list or the long list?" Katie asks. "Your nothing more than a pig who thinks he's god's gift to women, and we don't like men like that."

"Yeah, I mean at least Darren is nice," Renee says, and Wendy nods in agreement.

"Fine, if you won't come with me willingly, I'll challenge..." Jackson says, and looks the 3 girls over, ignoring Darren completely. "You, the one in the green bikini."

"Me? Fine, but can I go change into my armor? I don't feel comfortable dueling without it," Wendy says, Jackson shrugs, so Wendy rushes off.

She returns a minute later, in her full green samurai armor, strapping a katana to her side, and holding up her Duel Disk.

"Alright, Jackson, its time to duel!" she says, and activates her duel disk. "I think I'll pick, Sashia the Samurai Squire as my deckmaster!"

"I was expecting an Amazon..." Jackson says.

"Okay, that's it, not only are you a pig, your also an idiot," Wendy says. " The fact that I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't use monsters other than Harpies, Amazons, or Fairies, and if you say another word about it, I'm going to take this sword, and shove it where the sun don't shine!"

Getting the picture, Jackson takes a card out of his deck. "I'll pick my Millenium Shield!"

A red and gold shield with the eye of horus in the center appears.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"Ladies first," Jackson says, trying to act polite.

Wendy draws. "I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says.

Jackson draws. "I'll also set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Wendy draws. _I have a feeling I know what that face down monster is, if I read him right, he's probably a stall duelist, or at least a high defense one, this could be trouble, unless I can win at his own game, _she thinks, looking her hand over. "Alright, I'll flip summon my face down Ancient Master Yoshi (300/2000)!"

An old-looking samurai master appears.

"Now, I'm going to activate the spell card, Switcharoo, which switches him to defense mode!" She says, and the old samurai kneels in defense mode. "And I'll now summon my Mataza the Zapper (1300/800 + 500), now Mataza, attack his face down monster, zapping sword slash!"

The ronnin in green armor appears, and charges at the face down monster, but is thrown back by what looks like a giant statue.

"Sorry, that was my Stone Statue of the Aztecs, which means you lose 200 life points, which are doubled from the effect, so you lose 400!" Jackson says, and Wendy's life points fall to 3600. "Anything else you'd like to do?"

"Nope, that's it," Wendy says.

Jackson draws, bringing his hand up to 6. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," he says.

Wendy draws. "Alright, now I'll give my Mataza the equip spell Black Pendant!"

A pendant appears around the Ronnin's neck.

"Now, he gains 500 attack points, putitng his attack at a grand total of 2300! Now Mataza, destroy his Stone Statue!"

The Ronnin cuts through the stone statue, and it is destroyed.

"Now, hit his face down monster!"

The face down monster is revealed to be a giant ugly rat.

"Thanks, now I can summon an earth monster in my deck to the field with 1500 attack or less," he says, and takes a card out of his deck. "And I'll pick Cryosphinx (1200/2400)!"

A huge ugly sphinx appears.

"Hah, even if Mataza didn't have his bonuses, he could beat that monster in a blink of an eye, your move," Wendy retorts.

Jackson draws. "Alright, I'll activate Magical Mallet," he says, and shuffles 3 cards into his deck, and draws the same amount. "Now I'll place one card face down, and set a monster, then I'll use my Hammer Shot card, destroying your Mataza!"

A hammer smacks down on the ronnin, and he bursts to bits.

"Fine, but you lose 500 life points," Wendy says.

"Not really, remember, I have my deckmaster, so I only take half the damage when I lose life points," Jackson says, and his life points fall to 3750. "And I'll end by switching my sphinx to defense mode."

Wendy draws, and looks over at Katie, then smiles.

"Alright, check this out, I'm going to summon a monster a friend gave me, I play Cost Down, and I'll discard one card from my hand, so I can normal summon this monster without a sacrifice, go, **_Minnanato, Samurai of Shadows_** (2300/2100)!" She says, and tosses the card down onto the disk, and a black armored samurai appears. "As anyone of my friends knows, a Samurai must have a master, otherwise he is a Ronnin, and this particular samurai, despite being a close ally of Yammoto, is under the employ of the shadows. He takes orders from the darkest of beings, but still keeps his honor to the best of his ability."

"Fine, but he can't destroy my sphinx," Jackson says.

"True, but you'll see his effect in a minute, he'll attack your face down monster!" Wendy commands, and the black armored samurai slashes at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Medusa Worm. "And when he destroys a face down monster, I can automaticaly destroy another card on the field!"

Cirosphinx blows up.

"Your move," Wendy finishes.

Jackson draws. "I activate Premature Burial, and I'll bring back my Cirosphinx!" He says, and the sphinx appears again.

"Fine, I'll just destroy him again!" Wendy says.

"Oh really, well what if I sacrifice him to bring out Exodd, Master of the Guard (0/4000), in defense mode!" Jackson says, and a huge golden statue of Exodia appears. "And I'll end my turn with one monster in defense mode."

Wendy draws. "Alright, I'll set a monster, and have Minnanato attack your face down monster!" She says, and the samurai charges at the face down monster.

Then suddenly he gets sucked into a cannon, and launched back into Wendy's hand.

"That was my Compulsatory Evacuation Device, which sends your monster back to your hand," Jackson says.

"Fine, your move," Wendy concludes.

Jackson draws. "I'll activate Card of Sanctity!" he says, and both of them draw until they have 6 cards. "And now, I'll activate the field spell Canyon!"

A huge canyon appears between them.

"Now, I'll sacrifice my face down Golem Sentry, to summon Hieracosphinx (2400/1200), in attack mode!"

A sphinx with the head and wings of a falcon appears.

"And now I'll place this card face down, and have my sphinx destroy your Ancient Master!"

The sphinx smashes through the old samurai master.

"Your move."

Wendy draws. "Alright, I'll set another monster, and end my turn," she says.

Jackson draws. "I'll activate my trap card, Ultimate Offering, now I'll set a monster in defense mode, and summon Maharaghi (1200/1700)!" He says, and a monster that looks sort of like a buddhist statue appears as Jackson's life points fall to 3250. "Of course, since he's a spirit monster, he'll return to my hand when I end my turn, but my sphinx can still deal with your face down monster, so it'll attack!"

The spinx destroys the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Magician of Faith, Wendy takes a card out of her graveyard.

"Your move," Jackson says, and Maharaghi dissapears in a ball of light, and returns to his hand.

Wendy draws. "Alright, now I activate Cost Down again," she says, discarding a card from her hand. "Now, I can summon Minnanato back to the field!"

The black armored samurai appears.

"Now, I'm going to use my deckmaster's special ability, and remove three monsters in my graveyard from the game to summon Yammoto the Noble Samurai (2200/2000 + 300)!"

Suddenly, Minnanato glows with golden energy.

"And since both of my Samurai are on the field, Minnanato gains 300 attack points!" Wendy explains, and the black samurai's attack goes up to 2600. "The only disadvantage is that he loses his effect. Yammoto destroy the Hieracosphinx!"

Yammoto slashes through the sphinx, and Jackson's life points lower to 3200.

"Now Minnanato, attack his face down monster!"

The black-armored samural slashes through a monster which is revealed to be a Moai Interceptor Cannons.

"Your move, Jackson," Wendy says.

"Renee, you gotta cheer for Wendy, she might be in the lead now, but you never know what might happen next," Katie says.

Renee seems to soften a little, but shrugs.

Jackson draws. "I'll activate Pot of Greed," he says, and draws two cards. "And, I'll set two monsters in defense mode, and switch Exodd into attack mode!" He says, and his life points fall to 2700.

The Exodia statue stands up, and towers over the two samurai.

"What's he doing? Exodd has no attack points!" Darren says.

"He must have a plan," Renee mutters. "And I think I know what it is."

"I'll now activate, Shield and Sword, switching the attack and defense of all monsters on the field!" Jackson says, and the attack of all the monsters switches.

Yammoto's attack becomes 2000

Minnato's becomes 2100.

But worst of all, Exodd's becomes 4000!

"Now Exodd, destroy Minnanato!"

The giant statue swings his fist, and smashes through the black armored samurai, and Wendy's life points fall to 1600.

"And I'll place one card face down to end my turn," Jackson finishes.

_Alright, I think I know what that face down card is, and he's an idiot to think it will work, but I gotta draw the right card... Heart of the cards, if your out there, guide me!_ Wendy thinks, and draws. "Alright, I'm activating Monster Reborn on Mataza the Zapper!"

The ronnin appears again.

"Next, I'll summon my deckmaster to the field!"

Sashia appears on the field (1700/1500 + 300).

"And now, I'll give Mataza the equip spell, Lightning Blade, which raises his attack to 2100! And now, I'll have him destroy your Exodd and the face down monster on the right, Zapping Blade Attack!"

"Go trap card, Ordeal of a Traveler, now you have to guess if a card in my hand is a monster, magic, or trap card!" Jackson counters, and the Great Sphinx of Gaza appears behind him.

"Umm, I'm going to guess that your holding a monster!" Wendy says, and Jackson growls as the attacks go through, and his life points fall to 1600. "Now Yammoto, destroy his last face down monster!"

The monster is revealed to be a Great Spirit, and its blown away.

"Now Sashia, attack him directly!"

Sashia notches an arrow onto her bow, and shoots Jackson with it, and his life points fall to 600.

"Your move."

Jackson draws. "Uhh, one monster in defense mode, and that's it."

Wendy draws. "Alright, Yammoto, destroy his face down monster!"

The monster is revealed to be another Giant Rat.

Jackson groans, and his Lost Guardian appears in attack mode.

"Now Sashia, finish him off!"

The samurai squire shoots another arrow at the rocky guardian, and Jackson's life points fall to 0.

"Fine, you win this time, Wheeler!" Jackson shouts, and leaves.

Renee smiles, and looks at Wendy. "Good job, Wendy."

"Your finally talking to me again?" Wendy asks.

"For now, just don't do anything to tick me off again!" Renee says, and they all laugh, and move on again.

**00000**

_Millenium Shield's deckmaster ability first appeared in Cyber Commander's fanfiction "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Thousand Year Door."_

**00000**

_**Minnanto, Samurai of Shadows**_

_**Dark**_

_**6**_

_**2300/2100**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**This samurai follows orders only from the shadows, but he is a warrior of honor on the inside, but he has no choice. This monster's attack cannot be changed under most circimstances. When "Yammoto the Noble Samurai" is on the field, this monster's effect is null and void, and it gains 300 attack points.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that's another chapter done, and a little quicker than usual.**_

_**Next chapter, its another Spirit Eliminator duel, and this time its Renee's turn. Can she defeat evolution, or will Doppler score her first victory? Find out in, "Level Modulation."**_


	25. Level Modulation

_Well, this is chapter 25, a pretty good feat for me, I've never had a fanfiction this long before, or enough support._

_One reviewer asked if Lee would come again, I might see if I can work her in a later fanfiction, but the finalists are pretty much set for this tournament, since I wrote the night before the finals (and one of the chapters), in advance, but I promise, Lee will appear in the third fanfiction, which has been named, but I will not reveal its title yet, but you will see its villain, or at least his name, from time to time here, and I can promise you that she will be a prominant carachter in the 4th fanfiction in this series (maybe as Darren's wife), which doesn't even have a villain or a plot yet, but I'm working on it._

_If anyone wants a carachter I've used so far in this fanfiction to appear again (other than Miranda, I've already decided to put her in all of the first 3 fanfictions, and her duels will be better, Marie and Ariel will also be re-appearing carachters), just mention it in a review or send me a message, you can recomend their opponents, if it would be any different._

_I can't reveal any of the secrets yet, but there will be a match where two of the main carachters finish the match their fathers had 30 years before, not telling who though._

_Well, moving on..._

_Disclaimer: Not owning Yu-Gi-Oh here, otherwise this would be what would happen._

**00000**

_**Well, so far Katie and Wendy have dueled members of a group of Elite duelists working for Doppler that call themselves the Spirit Eliminators, and now its my turn.**_

_**By the looks of it, he uses a group of monsters called level or "LV" monsters, these creatures seem a little stronger than your average monsters.**_

_**Especially this particular group that he's been ravaging me with all duel.**_

_**Lets hope I can win.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 25:**

**LEVEL MODULATION**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Katie and her friends followed the trail up the side of the mountain, it got a little steep in places, and sometimes the mountain would shake.

"Okay, I don't think we're climbing a mountain, I think this might be an active volcano," Katie says.

"What tipped you off? The rumbling, or the fact that there's lava dripping down the side of the mountain?" Renee says.

Soon enough, they reach the summit of the volcano, and before them is a huge crater with lava that is bubbling dangerously.

"I wonder what we'll find up here," Wendy says.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them begins to shake again, this time, a huge burst of lava streams out of the volcano, but instead of pouring everywhere, it goes straight up in a pillar. When it fades, before them is a huge silver dragon, who readies an attack, but then stops, and kneels, letting someone get off its back.

The man is dressed in egyptian clothing, with a golden bird-like headress, and a long black cape.

"I am the Horus' Servant, one of the 10 Spirit Eliminators hired by Doppler from the Monster Dimension!" He says in an accent that is notably middle eastern. "Its nothing personal against you children, but I must duel one of you, now!"

"Fine, I'll be your opponent," Renee says before anyone else can say anything, she activates her duel disk.

Horus nods, and activates a golden duel disk with the eye of horus next to the Life point counter.

Renee begins to reach for her deck to get her deckmaster, then she notices weird bracelets on her arm. She takes out a mirror, and her eyes grow wide.

She's barely changed at all, the only real difference in her looks is her outfit changing into a butterfly-like vest, and her hair has changed into a red color.

"Oh yeah," she says, shaking her head as she draws 5 cards. "Darn spirit eliminators, you turned me into a Guardian Elma."

"Well, those are the rules," Horus says, and nods. "I will be acting as my own deckmaster."

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Horus says, and draws 2 cards. "During my draw phase, if I have a Level monster that is 4 or lower, I can draw 2 cards instead of one. So lets begin with the first stage of one of my favorite monsters, I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000), in attack mode!"

A small bird-like silver dragon appears.

"And I'll end my turn with one card face down."

Renee draws, and looks her hand over. _Aww man, dad told me this might happen sometimes, I don't have a single monster in my hand, but I do have this,_ she thinks. "I'm going to activate the spell card, Guardian Treasure, by discarding 5 cards..." she says, and discards the rest of her hand. "I can draw 2 cards, and draw 2 cards on each of my standby phases that this card is active," she says, and draws two cards, looking them over. "Alrighty, I'll place this card face down, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Horus draws 2 cards again. "Alright, now since its my standby phase, I can sacrifice my level 4 horus for him to evolve into, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1000)!"

The dragon glows, and powers up, seeming to grow ferocious, and more dragon like.

_Level monsters, this might be trouble,_ Katie thinks. _Then again, for most of them, he'd have to be able to destroy one of Renee's monsters, and she doesn't make that easy._

"Now, attack her face down monster!" Horus commands, and the dragon sends a massive burst of fire at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Back-Up Guardna, then suddenly the attack is deflected back. "What?"

"Oh, nothing much, I just activated my Castle Walls trap card, this raises my Guardna's defense to 2700, so your monster's attack fails, and you lose 400 life points," Renee explains, and Horus' life points fall to 3600.

"Fine, your move," the Spirit Eliminator responds.

Renee draws her two cards. "Alright, I'm going to activate the spell card Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 more cards, and then smiles. _Perfect, I never thought I'd draw these cards,_ she thinks, and swiftly discards two cards. "I'll now activate Monster Reborn, and use it to bring back my Kaiser Seahorse!"

A seahorse warrior appears on the field.

"And now, I'll sacrifice it to bring out this monster, Sanga of the Thunder!"

An orange and yellow thunder monster appears on the field.

_No way, she has those monsters? _Katie thinks.

"Alright, now Sanga will attack with Thunderstroke Blast!" Renee commands, and the thunder monster blasts through the dragon, dropping Horus' life points to 3300. "Your move."

Horus draws only one card this time. "I'll activate Level Modulation, this card lets you draw 2 cards, and I can summon any Level monster in my graveyard," he says, and the Horus LV6 appears again. "And now I'll play, Level Up, which will allow me to sacrifice my Level 6 Horus, to bring out his level 8 form!"

Suddenly, the monster levels up, and a huge silvery dragon appears with an enormous roar (3000/1800).

"I think I'll end my turn by placing one card face down."

Wendy draws her two cards, since Horus' effect didn't work on cards that where already active, she looks over the 4 cards in her hand. _I can use this card later, but for right now I can't,_ she thinks. "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

Horus draws two cards again. "Now I'll activate the spell card, Hordeguarder, this makes it so you can't activate your face down cards this turn. Now Horus, destroy her Sanga, Divine Dragon Blaze!"

The dragon sends a blast of fire at the thunder god.

"Sanga, activate your special ability!" Renee shouts, and the monster sends a blast of lightning up to meet the fire.

"Activate trap card, Divine Wrath!" Horus counters, and Sanga is hit by a bolt of lightning. "I'll just discard this card to negate your monster's effect, and destroy it!" Horus says, and discards a card from his hand, and Sanga of the Thunder bursts into pixels. "Of course, since his target is gone, my Horus' attack fizzles out, but its well worth it to destroy your monster. Take your turn."

Renee draws 2 cards. "I'll place one card face down, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says.

Horus draws.

"Go trap cards, first Taunt, so you can only attack the monster I just set, and then my Gift of the Dark Ruler trap, which turns all face up monsters into fiends for the remainder of the turn," Renee says, and the dragon takes on a fiendish shape.

"Fine, but that won't stop this attack, go, destroy her face down monster!" Horus commands, and the dragon turned fiend blasts at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a young woman with red hair and armor.

Suddenly, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 sizzles, and bursts into pixels.

"What? How the..." Horus says, scanning Renee's field, her two face down cards are still untouched.

"That was my Getsu Fuhma. Years ago, her family was killed by wicked fiends, so she signed an oath in her own blood that she would fight the forces of evil until her dying day," Renee says with a smirk. "In game terms, any time she battles a fiend or a zombie, the opposing monster is automaticaly destroyed, now do you see why I used my trap card?"

"Alright, she beat that freak's best monster!" Darren says.

_"Well, I'm impressed, she took that dragon down like a pro, she really is Rafael's daughter,"_ Yami says, and Katie nods.

_"Yeah, but I doubt it will really be that easy," _Katie replies.

Horus laughs. "Don't think for a minute that this duel is over, Horus was far from my best monster, I'll end my turn by setting one monster in defense mode."

Wendy draws her two cards, and looks them over. _Alright, these cards aren't bad, heck, I might be able to use them, but not right now, for now, these will do,_ she thinks. "Alright, first I'll activate Cost Down, and discard my Butterfly Dagger-Elma, which returns it to my hand automaticaly," she says, and slips a card into her graveyard, then it glows, and slips back out and Renee picks it up. "Now, I'll equip my Guardna with Gravity Axe-Grarl, and now since the levels of my monsters where reduced, I can summon Guardian Grarl (2500/1200), without a tribute!"

The axe-wielding dinosaur monster appears.

"And now, I'll switch my Axe to Grarl!"

The demon tosses the axe, and the dinosaur catches it.

"Now attack his face down monster, Gravity Axe Smash!"

The dinosaur smashes through the face down monster, which is revealed to be a red and white dragon with a mask.

"That was my Masked Dragon, so I can now special summon this monster to the field, my Armed Dragon LV3 (1300/600)!" Horus says, and a orange and white dragon appears.

"Fine, I'll equip my Guardna with Heart of Clear Water to end my turn," Renee says.

"As long as Renee is able to keep her Guardna from being destroyed, she should be fine," Wendy says. "But that'll depend on a few factors, like wheter or not her opponent has a monster in his hand right now."

"Yeah, but if she does, Renee might be in deep trouble, if I know this particular type of monster like I think I do," Katie says.

Horus draws, and shakes his head. "First, my Armed Dragon will level up to form Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1500)!" He says, and the dragon grows bigger and meaner looking. "I'll place one card face down, and activate my trap card Dust Tornado to destroy your Gravity Axe!"

A burst of wind blows away the axe.

"Fine, Grarl loses his bonus, but he's not destroyed," Renee says.

"I know, I'll end my turn," Horus says.

"Why didn't he use it on the Heart of Clear Water?" Darren wonders.

"That face down card he just set must be the key," Katie says. "Level duelists always have a few tricks up their sleeve to deal with dangerous situations, we just have to see what he's planning this time."

Renee draws her two cards. _Well, this still isn't the card I need, but it will do,_ she thinks, and places a card face down. "Now, I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode, and have Grarl attack your face down monster with Gravity Axe Smash!"

The dinosaur guardian charges.

"Activate trap card, Unexpected Level Up, this handy little card that lets me sacrifice Armed Dragon LV5, to bring out its next form, now give a warm welcome to, Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/2300)!" Horus counters, and the dragon grows to enormous proportions, and counter attacks, destroying Guardian Grarl, and dropping Renee's life points to 3700. "Is that all you've got?"

Renee looks over her hand. "No, I've got this card too, Fallen Guardian, I remove Grarl from the game, and draw 3 cards," she says, and draws 3 cards. "Now, I'll equip my Guardna with Rod of Silence-Kay'est, and place this card face down to end my turn."

Horus draws. "Alright, now you'll face the last of my Armed Dragon monsters, I sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV7, to summon Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/1000), in attack mode!" He says, and the dragon evolves again, this time forming a huge dragon that seems to stand on its hind legs, and roars. "And now, I'm using his special ability, by discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy all your mosnters!"

He discards a card, and the dragon sends a barrage of missiles at the monsters, and they're destroyed.

"True, but I have a trap card, An Eye for an Eye!" Renee shouts, and suddenly a grecian emperor appears before her, and the Armed Dragon LV10 explodes as well. "This handy little trap card makes it so the effect you used on me is used on you as well!"

"Fine, I'll now summon my Ultimate Insect LV4 (1400/900), in attack mode!" Horus says, and a bug appears on the field. "Now, it'll attack you directly!"

The insect sprays Renee with poison powder, and her life points fall to 2300.

"And I'll end my turn with one card face down," Horus finishes.

Renee draws 2 cards. _I gotta be carefull, if I don't draw something that will let me win it soon, I might lose this duel..._ she thinks, then looks at her draws, and smirks. "Finally, I'm going to reveal one of my best combos, first, I activate Pot of Avarice, which lets me shuffle 5 cards back into my deck, and then draw 2."

She takes 5 cards out of her graveyard, and shuffles them into her deck, and then draws 2 cards.

"Now, I'll activate the spell card, Elemental Rainbow, this card forces me to discard my entire hand, and give up half my life points..." she says, and discards her remaining 6 cards, then her life points fall to 1150. "But now, I can special summon 5 monsters to the field, and add 5 monsters to my hand. And thanks to this card's effect, I can use them all on this turn, but it will cost me half my life points to attack this turn. So, I'll summon first the Kaiser Seahorse I shuffled back in..."

The seahorse appears again.

"Whilrwind Progidy..."

A young winged-beast appears.

"Unshaven Angler..."

A hideous fish appears.

"Flame Ruler..."

A man with short blue hair and a tan complexion appears.

"And Double Coston!"

Two zombies appear at once.

(1700/1650x3)

(1500/1600x2)

"So, you have enough monsters to finish me off..." Horus says, moving towards his face down monster.

"True, but I've got a better idea, remember, I have 5 monsters in my hand still," Renee says, holding up her 5 cards. "Now, I'll show you what I took out, first I sacrifice my seahorse for Sanga of the Thunder (2600/2200)!"

The orange and yellow torso appears.

"Then my Progidy for Kazejin (2400/2000)!"

A green, thing appears.

"My angler for Suijin (2500/2400)!"

The blue legs appears.

"My ruler for Rajin (2300/2100)!"

A flaming cr appears.

"And finally, my Coston for Negajin (2200/2500)!"

Two black metalic wings appears.

"Now, since I have these 5 monsters on the field, I can combine them to summon the ultimate, **_God of the Gate_** (6000/6000-300)!" She says, and the 5 monsters meld together into a vortex of elemental light.

The body of the monster is similar to the Gate Guardian, but it sports a crown, and two large black wings, and of course is much, much bigger.

"Now God of the Gate, finish him off, Elemental Storm Surge!" Renee commands, and her life points fall to 550 as the monster sends a blast of fire, water, lightning, wind, and darkness at the Ultimate Insect.

"Go, Mirror Force!" Horus counters, but the trap doesn't activate.

"Oh, did I forget to mention, when my God of the Gate attacks, his attack cannot be stopped?" Renee says, and the huge monster bursts through the Ultimate Insect LV4, and Horus' life points drop to 0.

Renee sighs, and she changes back to her normal self as her Duel Points go up to 7. _Yeah, just 3 more and I'm in the finals! _She thinks.

"No, this can't be happening, spare me Doppler!" Horus shouts, and falls to his knees as he dissapears.

At that time, a trail leading down the volcano opens up, and the 4 friends head down the trail towards the base of the volcano, which has become dormant.

**00000**

_Unexpected Level Up was in one of my previous fanfictions._

_An Eye for an Eye was created by Cyber Commander._

_I'm not sure about Hordeguarder._

**00000**

_**Gift of Dark Ruler**_

_**Trap card**_

_**Image of Dark Ruler Ha Des casting a spell on a mortal woman, who is transforming into a demon. In the turn this is activated, all monsters on the field are counted as fiend types.**_

_**Elemental Rainbow**_

_**Spell card.**_

_**Image of a rainbow. When this card is activated, discard your entire hand and pay half your life points. Summon one fire, one water, one wind, one dark, and one light monster to your field from your deck, and add 5 monsters of the same attributes to your hand. The added monsters can be summoned all in this turn, but if the user attacks in the turn this is activated, they must give up half their life points.**_

_**Rajin**_

_**Fire**_

_**7**_

_**2300/2100**_

_**Pyro/Effect**_

_**This is the crown of the God of the Gate and the Gate Guardian King. Once per duel, when the opponent attacks, reduce the attack of the opposing monster to 0, you decide when this effect is activated.**_

_**Negajin**_

_**Dark**_

_**7**_

_**2200/2500**_

_**Fiend/Effect**_

_**This is the wings, and the final piece of the God of the Gate. Once per duel, when the opponent attacks, reduce the attack of the opposing monster to 0, you decide when this effect is activated.**_

_**God of the Gate**_

_**Dark**_

_**12**_

_**6000/6000**_

_**Warrior/Effect**_

_**This monster is the ultimate gatekeeper, he will guard anything without fail. This monster can only be special summoned from your hand or deck by sacrificing "Sanga of the Thunder," "Kazejin," "Suijin," "Rajin," and "Negajin," from your field. This monster can attack as many times as the opponent has monsters, and the opponent cannot activate spell or trap cards when it attacks.**_

**00000**

_**Horus' Servant-Greedy Leveling: When you have a level 4 or lower monster with "LV" in its name in your hand, draw an extra card in your draw phase.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that's chapter 25. You probably weren't expecting a new version of the Gate Guardian, even from Renee, but hey, I'm full of suprises.**_

_**Next chapter, Darren's shooting for his seventh Duel Point as they enter a swampy region of the virtual world. Can Darren overcome monsters that Jaden beat almost barely? Find out in, "Des Croaking."**_


	26. Des Croaking

_Well, here comes the next chapter, and Darren's turn to duel one of my least favorite deck types._

_Also, the card Power From the Enemy that I used a couple of chapters back was created by Dueler King._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**So far in this tournament, me and my friends have dueled 3 duelists with deck types akin to duelists from the Infamous Society of Light, or their opposition.**_

_**First it was Darius Steel, the B.E.S duelist that Renee took on as her first opponent, his deck is similar to that of Lorenzo.**_

_**Then along came my first opponent, Bob Barker, the Quiz King, well, he came as himself, but you get the point.**_

_**Renee took on the famous Aster Phoenix in the Pyramid Arena.**_

_**And lets not forget Jamie Yuki, who Katie dueled recently, who is the daughter of the famous Jaden Yuki.**_

_**Now I'm up to bat again, and this time my opponent uses a deck similar to one of the weirder duelists in the Society of Light.**_

_**Well, lets hope I can win.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 26:**

**DES CROAKING**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Katie and her friends step off the trail leading down the volcano, only to find themselves in the middle of a swamp. The ground is muddy, there is water everywhere, and trees seem to stick up in the weirdest places.

"Okay, we leave a volcano, and find ourselves in a swamp, what's next, a princess who's obsessed with frogs?" Darren wonders out loud.

"That would be weird, even for us," Renee admits, Katie and Wendy just shrug.

After about 30 minutes of walking through the swamp, they find themselves on an island somehwere in the middle of the swamp. There's a rustling, and from the brush emerges a woman in her mid 20's, wearing a light blue dress, and has platinum blonde hair.

Her duel disk registers her at 9 Duel Points.

"Wow, duelists!" She says in a cheerful voice. "I was like, worried that I wouldn't get another duel anytime soon!"

_Not another valley-girl wannabe,_ Katie thinks, cringing. "Umm, yeah, but won't that dress get ruined out here?"

The lady blinks. "Did anyone ever, like, tell you that you look like a female version of Yugi Motou?"

"Umm, yeah, he's my dad," Katie says.

"Oh," the woman replies. "Anyway, I'm, like, Lily, frog duelist extrodinare, and soon to be finalist in this tournament!"

"Then why don't you put your deck where your mouth is, and duel me!" Darren says, holding up his duel disk and activates it.

"Goody!" Lily says, and activates her duel disk. "I'll, like, pick my Nightmare Penguin as my deckmaster!"

"And I'll pick a monster I rarely can get out, Freed the Matchless General!" Darren says, and an old warrior with long blonde hair appears.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll, like, go first," Lily says, and draws. "I'll, like, summon my Treeborn Frog (100/100 + 200), in defense mode!"

An orange frog with fairy wings appears.

"Its, like, your move."

Darren draws. "Alright, I'll summon my Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800), in attack mode!" He says, and an egyptian man with dreadlocks appears. "And thanks to his effect, you lose 500 life points!"

The Gravekeeper blasts Lily, and her life points fall to 3500.

"Now my curse will destroy your monster!"

The gravekeeper blasts through the frog.

"One card face down, your move."

Lily draws, and suddenly the Treeborn Frog appears again. "Thanks to my monster's effect, its revived as long as I don't have any spell or trap cards, or another Treeborn Frog on the field. And now, I'm going to activate a spell card called Inferno Reckless Summon, so we can both summon all monsters that are the same monsters as what we already have on the field!"

"Darn, I don't have any others," Darren says.

"But I have two more Treeborn Frogs," Lily says, and two more frogs appears. "And I'll end my turn there."

_This might be trouble for Darren, frog decks aren't common, but if they're used right, they can be very dangerous,_ Katie thinks.

Darren draws. "Alright, time to take care of your frogs, I summon Marauding Captain (1200/400), in attack mode, which lets me special summon Don Zaloog (1400/1500) from my hand," he says, and first the battle-hardened vetran appears, and then the eye-patched leader of the Dark Scorpions. "Now, they'll destroy your frogs!"

The 2 warriors and Gravekeeper destroy the treeborn frogs.

"Your move."

Lily draws. "Two cards face down, and I'll summon my T.A.D.P.O.L.E (0/0 + 200) in defense mode," she says, and a black and orange tadpole appears. "And I'll now play, another Inferno Reckless Summon!"

Two more tadpoles appears on the field, and so does 2 more Marauding Captains.

"Your move."

Darren draws, but is interrupted by Lily.

"I'm activating my trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf, so I gain 300 life points for every monster on the field, and I count 7, so I gain 2100 life points," she says, and her life points rise to 5600.

"Fine, I'll use my deckmaster ability, by paying 500 life points, I can add any warrior to my hand that is level 4 or lower," Darren says, takes a card out of his deck as his life points fall to 3500, and looks over his hand. "I'll place one card face down, and have my Curse destroy your Treeborn Frog!"

The gravekeeper blasts through the frog.

"Now my Captains will destroy your tadpoles!"

The three captains charge.

"Go trap card, Negate Attack!" Lily counters, and the attack is stopped in its tracks.

"Your move," Darren says.

Lily draws, and giggles as her frog appears again. "I'll, like, activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "Now, I'll like, activate my Thunder Crash spell card, I like, sacrifice two of my T.A.D.P.O.L.Es and my Treeborn Frog to deal damage to your life points!"

Darren cringes as his life points fall to 2700.

"And now, I'll, like, activate my Vase of Dark Water, by removing my Treeborn Frog from the game, I can, like, draw 3 cards," she says, and draws 3 cards. "Now, I'll sacrifice my last T.A.D.P.O.L.E to summon my Des Frog (1900/0 + 200)!"

A green frog appears with a ribbit.

"You know, I like, can't believe that my crazy sister actually thought that she could see spirits in these cards..."

"Wait, that means... is your sister named Rose?" Katie asks.

"Yep, she, like, gave up dueling after losing to Jaden Yuki, so she, like, gave me her deck, and I made some improvements on it," Lily says. "Now, I can special summon two more Des Frogs from my deck!"

The other two frogs appears.

"And its like totaly time for me to win, I activate Des Croaking, which automaticaly destroys all cards on your side of the field!" Lily says, and the 3 Des Frogs let out a huge croak, and Darren's side of the field is cleared. "Now my frogs, finish him off, Resounding Ribbit!"

"Darren, no!" Renee shouts.

The 3 frogs croak, and a huge shockwave heads right for Darren. It hits him, but he's gasping, his life points not having changed at all.

"What? How could you survive, unless..." Lily says.

"I chained your spell card with my Waboku trap, so I took no damage this turn," Darren says.

"Well, it won't help you in a moment, not after I activate Polymerization, which will fuse my three Des Frogs together to summon the mighty, D.3.S Frog (2500/2000 + 1200)!" Lily says, and the monsters fuse together to form a huge ugly bloated toad. "Your move now."

Darren draws, and his life points fall to 2200 as he uses his deckmaster again, taking a card out of his deck. _This will protect me for one turn, nothing more_, he thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Lily draws. "I'll now summon Beelze Frog (1200/800 + 1100)!" She says, and a demonic looking frog with red and black skin appears. "Now Beelze Frog, destroy his face down monster, frog-fire attack!"

The devilish frog blasts the face down monster with fire

The mosnter is revealed to be a Peten the Dark Clown. "By removing this one, I can summon a second!" Darren says, and a second Peten appears.

"Fine, D.3.S Frog, destroy his second Peten, Colossal Croak!" Lily commands, and the giant frog destroys Darren's second Peten, only to have a third appear. "Your move."

Darren draws. "I activate Card of Sanctity," he says, and both players draw until they have 6 cards. "Now, I'm going to activate my Soul Release spell card, removing from the game your 3 T.A.D.P.O.L.E's and two Treeborn Frogs!"

The 5 monsters appear in spectral form, and vanish into the Different Dimension.

D.3.S' attack lowers to 2700, and Beelze's lowers to 1400.

"Now, I'm going to activate Gracefull Charity," Darren says, and draws 3 cards, and then discards two after a minute. "Now, I'm activating Monster Reborn, to special summon the Crescent Moon Queen (2600/2700) I just discarded!"

The elegant female warrior appears.

"Why? Your monster is only strong enough to destroy my Beelze Frog, it doesn't stand a chance against my D.3.S frog, even if you removed the cards that powered it up," Lily points out.

"You'll see, first I'll activate the Warrior Returning Alive, so I can take a warrior from my graveyard, and put it in my hand," Darren says, and takes a card out of his graveyard. "And now I'll summon it, the one and only, Don Zaloog!"

The leader of the Dark Scorpions appears again.

"Okay, what's the point? Your monsters are still too weak," Lily says.

"You'll see, because now I'll activate Negative Energy, which doubles the attack of all dark monsters on the field!" Darren says, and a nimbus of dark energy surrounds the Crescent Moon Queen and Don Zaloog, and their respective attacks go up to 5200 and 2800. "And my Queen will now attack both of your monsters!"

The queen first slashes at B.3.S Frog, and Lily's life points fall to 3100, then she slashes at the Beelze Frog, and Lily's life points drop to 0, and her duel points lower to 8, while Darren's rises to 7.

"Fine, now, like, get out of here!" Lily shouts, and the 4 friends get out quickly.

**00000**

_Freed the Matchless General's deckmaster ability was created by Cyber Commander._

_Pegasus first used Negative Energy against Kaiba._

**00000**

_**Vase of Dark Water**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a blue and black Pot of Greed with stormy waters depicted. Remove 1 water monster in your graveyard from the game to draw 3 cards.**_

**00000**

_**Well, there's chapter 26, I hope you enjoyed it.**_

_**Next chapter, a dangerous dueling duo from Cyber Commander's "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door" arrives to terrorize Katie and her friends. Can Katie team up with Ariel Kaiba so that they can beat the Robo siblings? Find out as the second of many tag team duels in this series begins, in a chapter I call, "Fusion Weapon."**_

_**How will it turn out? Wait and see.**_


	27. Fusion Weapon

_"Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door," a unique story in its own way._

_Cyber Commander has greatly influenced my own writing style in various ways, some obvious._

_Well, this chapter will guest star two monster duelists from The Thousand Year Door, that almost beat Stan and Francesca..._

_Lets see how Katie and Ariel can fare._

_Also, this will dwelve deeper into the pre-Dimensions world._

_Disclaimer: Hmm, let me check my list of things I own... goes off for a minute Nope, don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, unless someone is willing to sell it to me._

**00000**

_**In my entire career, I've only participated in one Tag Team Duel to date, and that was when I teamed up with Marie to defeat Lumis and Umbra.**_

_**I might not be experienced, but I know the basics of Tag Team dueling, and I hope I can put that to use now.**_

_**On the other hand, Ariel is well known around the world for her dueling strength, and has more experience in the Tag Team duels.**_

_**Lets hope that we can team up to win this duel.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 27:**

**FUSION WEAPON**

**0000000000**

**00000**

As Katie and her friends emerge from the swamp, they find themselves back at the abandoned factory that Renee dueled Darius Steel at.

Standing outside is Kisara, so they stop.

"Hey, uhh, sorry, what's your name again?" Renee asks.

"Its okay, and my name is Kisara," she replies.

"Isn't Ariel usualy with you?" Darren asks.

"Yeah, but she heard that Doppler has two minions in this factory, and she asked for me to wait for her," Kisara answers.

"Well, I for one am worried about her," Katie says. "I'm going to check on her."

"You want us to come?" Renee asks.

"No, I'll be fine," Katie says, and walks into the factory.

**00000**

Once inside, she looks around, the place seems to be completely deserted.

_"Katie, we need to be careful, I sense strong shadow magic at work here,"_ Yami tells her, and she nods.

Suddenly, a loud clanking sound is heard, and a huge orange and white machine monster remnicent of a Gundam appears.

"Oh crap, the Perfect Machine King..." Katie says, reaching for her duel disk, but the huge machine launches missles at her, and a knockout gas spreads, and she falls unconsious.

**00000**

She wakes up two hours later, and gasps to find herself on a platform overlooking a pit of molten steel.

"About time you got up!" A familiar voice from nearby says.

Katie turns, and standing on a platform a little ways from her's is Ariel Kaiba in all her glory.

"Ariel, are you okay?" Katie asks.

"I'm fine, but now that you're awake, its only a matter of time before they get here," Ariel says.

"Who are they?" Katie asks.

"We are among Doppler's most trusted servants..." a male robotic voice says.

"And we have only one purpose here..." a female robotic voice says.

Suddenly, two figures appear out of nowhere, both are obviously androids, one is male and the other is female.

"The destruction of Ariel Kaiba and Katie Motou!" They say in unison.

"Roboyaru and Robolady, I should've known..." Katie says.

"Ever since our embarassing defeat years ago, we've been training, and now that Doppler has recognized our tallents, we will finally get the recognition we deserve!" Roboyaru says.

"Uhh, bro, don't we usualy do the motto here?" Robolady points out.

"Oh come on, the Team Rocket motto's been done to death, lets just get this over with!" Roboyaru shouts.

"Fine, lets duel!" Katie says, and her Millenium Puzzle activates.

She looks over at Ariel, and they both activate their duel disks, while the Robo siblings do the same.

_Alright, I've gotta think of something good to use,_ Katie thinks, looking over her deck. "Alright, I'll pick my Dark Magician as my deckmaster!"

The purple robed spellcaster appears.

"And I'll pick, my Lord of Dragons!" Ariel says, and the robed spellcaster with a dragon skull for a helmet appears.

"We will be acting as our own deckmasters," Roboyaru says.

"LETS DUEL!" The four say in unison.

"I'll go first," Roboyaru says, and draws. "I'll place one card face down, and activate Polymerization, fusing together my Curse of Dragon and Gaia the Fierce Knight to summon Gaia the Dragon Champion (2600/2100)!"

The two monsters fuse together, to form a warrior carrying two spears, and riding a yellow dragon.

"Your move, Katie," Roboyaru finishes up.

Katie draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn," she says.

Robolady draws, and glaces at her brother. "I'm going to activate the spell card Dark Designator, and use it on my partner. Do you have Zombyra the Dark in your deck, brother?"

"Why yes, here it is," Roboyaru says, and takes a card out of his deck.

"Thank you, now I will activate a field spell known as Fusion Gate!" Robolady says, and a huge swirling vortex appears above the duelists. "And now, I'm going to give my partner's monster a card called Spiral Spear Strike, which gives him a trample ability. Now I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Ariel draws, and looks over her hand. _Nothing that can defeat their monster, but this will do anyway,_ she thinks. "I'm going to activate my Pot of Greed spell card."

"Before you draw your cards, I'm triggering my Appropriate trap card, now whenever you draw out of your draw phase, I get to draw 2 cards as well," Roboyaru says.

"Fine," Ariel says, and they both draw 2 cards. "I'm going to place this card face down, and summon my Luster Dragon (1900/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a saphire blue dragon appears. "Now, my Luster Dragon will destroy your face down monster!"

The dragon sends a blast of blue fire, and wipes out Robolady's face down monster, which is revealed to be a Witch of the Black Forest.

"Thanks, now I can take a monster out of my deck with 1500 defense points or fewer," Robolady says, and does so.

"Your move Roboyaru," Ariel says.

Roboyaru draws. "Alright, I'll place one card face down, and summon Zombyra the Dark (2100/500), in attack mode!" He says, and a superhero appears. "And he'll attack your Luster Dragon, Ariel!"

The superhero charges, and blasts through the dragon, dropping Ariel and Katie's life points to 7800, and Zombyra's attack lowers to 1900.

"Go trap card, Michizure, since you destroyed my monster, I can destroy yours!" Ariel says, and the earth breaks under the Dragon Champion, and he gets dragged into a hole.

"I'll end my turn," Roboyaru growls.

Katie draws, and looks over her hand. "Alright, I'll sacrifice my Mystical Elf for my Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900), in attack mode!" She says, and a green robed spellcaster appears. "Now, attack Zombyra!"

"Activate Mirror Force!" Roboyaru countes, and the magician is destroyed.

"Fine, one card face down, your move," she says.

"Hold it, I'm activating my trap card, Solemn Wishes!" Ariel says, and her trap flips up.

"Whatever," Robolady says, and draws. "It won't matter now, because I'm summoning my Maryokuti (900/800)!"

An ugly skull appears.

"And now, we'll use the effect of the Fusion Gate, by removing both my Maryokuti and my brother's Zombyra the Dark from the game, I can fusion summon this monster, the Last Warrior From Another Planet (2350/2300)!"

The two monsters get sucked into the fusion gate, and a huge monster decends on them. It is a huge and hideous fiend with yellowish skin, carrying many weapons, and with futuristic armor.

"And thanks to his effect, you can only set monsters, which won't help you now that I'm going to activate the equip spell Fairy Meteor Crush!"

The last warrior glows a bright red.

"And on top of that, this activates my deckmaster's special ability," Roboyaru says. "When a fusion monster is targeted by a spell card, I can take 2 monsters out of my deck that are compatable for a fusion, and add them to my hand," he says, and takes out two cards. "And since the monster is a fusion of both of our monsters, we both can controll him!"

"Now Last Warrior, attack them directly!" Robolady commands, and the alien warrior blasts at Katie and Ariel's life points, and they fall to 5450. "Your move, Kaiba-girl."

Ariel draws, and their life points rise to 5950. _Perfect this monster is exactly what I needed,_ she thinks. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

_This is trouble, me and Ariel have very little tag team experience with each other, though we've dueled before, I doubt that we both know the other's strategies, and how to help. And Robolady and Roboyaru are both good duelists when it comes to tag teams, after all, as siblings, tag team seems to come naturally,_ Katie thinks, looking over her hand. _I hope we can win this duel, for all of our sakes._

Roboyaru draws. "Unfortunately, I cannot summon any monsters either, so I'll set one monster in defense mode, and have our last warrior destroy Ariel's face down monster!"

The alien warrior blasts through the face down monster, and Ariel grins.

The monster is revealed to be a female warrior.

"That was my D.D Assailant (1700/1200)!" She says.

"And thanks to my Kuriboh, we take no damage," Katie says, discarding a card from her hand that she shows as a Kuriboh.

"Now, by removing my D.D Assailant from the game, I can remove your last warrior as well!" Ariel says, and the monster vanishes into the Different Dimension.

"Fine, but since it was sent away from the field by our opponent's card, I can use my deckmaster's special ability to summon one of the monsters fused to form our Last Warrior, so welcome back Maryokutai!" Robolady says, and the skull appears again.

"Very well, I will now fuse together these two monsters from my hand, Warrior Dai Grephar and Spirit Ryu, to summon Ryu Senshi (2000/1200)!" Roboyaru says, and the two monsters fuse together to form a warrior with dragonic armor. "And I'll end my turn there."

Katie draws, and looks her hand over. "I acfivate Soul Exchange, and I'll sacrifice your Maryokuti to summon my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

The buxom blonde female spellcaster appears with a giggle, and a twirl of her wand.

"Robolady, you should've sacrificed your monster for its effect!" Roboyaru shouts at his sister.

"Sorry, sorry," Robolady says.

_Maybe they're not as good as a team as I thought, after all, a tag team match requires team work, and those two might start arguing, and that would prove to be their downfall,_ Katie thinks. "Alright, since I have to skip my battle phase, I'll end my turn."

Robolady draws. "Alright, I'll play Card of Sanctity," she says, and all 4 of them draw until they have 6 cards. "Now, I'll remove two monsters of my own, Frontier Wiseman and Posessed Dark Soul, to summon Dark Balter the Terrible (2000/1200)!"

The two monsters fuse to form a huge fiend that reminds Katie a little bit of the Dark Ruler Ha Des.

_Oh, I get it, if we try to play a spell card, their Dark Balter will negate it, if we play a trap card, their Ryu Senshi will negate it, they must be buying time, but it won't last long,_ Ariel thinks.

"Your move, Kaiba," Robolady says.

Ariel draws, and looks her hand over as their life points rise to 6450. _Perfect, well, they like fusions so much, lets see how they manage against this one,_ she thinks. "I'm going to use your own fusion gate against you, by removing the 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand, I can summon the mighty Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

The huge 3-headed dragon appears.

"Now, destroy Dark Balter, Neutron Blast!"

The dragon raises its 3 heads, and blasts away at the fiend, lowering the Robo sibling's life points to 5500, and then a Frontier Wiseman (1600/800) appears, kneeling in defense mode.

"Your move, Roboyaru."

**00000**

"So, Doppler released your soul about the time she came into this world as an effort to strengthen her plans? And before that, you only remember living in Ancient Egypt?" Renee asks Kisara, who nods. "Woah, that's, weird. But what could Doppler possibly want with you?"

"Doppler's lust for power is insatiable," Kisara says. "She wanted control of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so she released my soul, but when I refused to help her, she cursed me to stay as a dragon, until Ariel dueled against the Buster Blader. I was on the run for awhile, but eventually the dragonslayer caught up with me, planning on using me for bait to lure in Ariel, and it worked to a certain extent, Ariel certainly was lured in. But she won, and the curse was lifted, and now I travel around with her."

"Interesting," Darren says. "So, what do you think will happen to you once this tournament is over?"

"I really don't know," Kisara admits. "I guess it'll be one of two things, either I will finally be able to rest in peace, and move on to the next world, or maybe I can stay here, Ariel's told me all about what's been happening, even the dissaperances, she told me she lost her uncle Mokuba in the disaperances."

"My dad told me about Mokuba Kaiba, he doesn't sound like such a bad guy," Wendy says. "So, he dissapeared as well, then?"

Kisara nods. "But Ariel didn't seem angry, she said that she knew where Mokuba was, that he went to heaven to see God, and that she will see them again someday."

Renee, the ever skeptic looks away, not sure what to think.

**00000**

Roboyaru draws. "I'm activating my trap card, DNA Surgery, to change all monsters in play into Dragons!" He says, and all non-dragon monsters take on a dragonic apperance. "And now, I'll activate the spell card Scapegoat!"

4 sheep tokens appears on his side of the field, and they take on a dragonic look.

"And now, I'm going to activate my Polymerization spell card, to fuse together the 5 monsters on the field..." he says.

"Uhh, Ariel, can he do that?" Katie asks.

"Unfortunately, yes, there is a fusion that can be done with a field full of dragons," Ariel says, clinching her teeth. "This isn't going to be fun..."

The 5 monsters get sucked into a huge vortex...

What emerges can be described only as hideous, its a huge golden dragon with 5 heads, one of water, one of fire, one of wind, one of earth, and one of darkness.

"I've summoned, the mighty **_Mythic Dragon _**(5000/5000)!" Roboyaru says, and the dragon lets out an ear-splitting roar.

**00000**

The roar is so loud, it can be heard outside.

"What the heck was that?" Renee asks.

"It sounded like a duel monster!" Darren says, and rushes to the door, only to find it locked from the inside. "Well, I don't think we're going to be getting in anytime soon, unless one of you are skilled at lock picking."

The answer to that problem soon presents itself, as a huge explosion blasts a hole in the side of the factory.

"Well, that solves that problem," Wendy mutters, and they run towards the hole.

Inside, they see the duel still in progress, there is a huge smoltering crater where the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon once stood, and the Mythic Dragon is looking triumphent as Ariel and Katie's life points fall to 5950.

"This, isn't good," Kisara says.

"What in the name of everything that is holy is that thing?" Darren gasps when he sees the Mythic Dragon.

"That would be either the Mythic Dragon or its ritual counterpart the Five Gods Dragon. Based on the presence of the Fusion Gate on the field, I'd have to guess the Mythic Dragon," Renee says, getting looks from the other 3. "I faced them both in the French nationals, beat them with Aitos both times."

"I'll play the spell card Trap Neutralization, so Solemn Wishes is worthless, but you can draw an extra card in your standby phase, Kaiba. Your move, Motou," Roboyaru says.

Katie draws. "Alright, this will do, I'll summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and a lesser version of the Dark Magician appears. "Next, I'll play Swords of Revealing Light!"

The swords fall around the Robo twin's field, and Skilled Dark Magician gains one spell counter.

"I'll end my turn there."

Robolady draws. "Alright, I'm going to discard my Thunder Dragon to add two more to my hand," she says, discarding a card, and takes two cards out of her deck. "Now, I'm going to use the power of fusion gate, to fuse my two monsters together to create the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon (2800/2100)!"

The two monsters fuse, and a huge red dragon with two heads appears.

"I'll end my turn there."

Ariel draws, and then draws again, which activates Roboyaru's Appropriate trap card, so he draws 2 cards. _Okay, that thing can only be destroyed by light monsters, but the light monsters I have aren't strong enough, so this will have to do,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and activate the spell card Goblin Thief!"

A goblin appears, blasts Roboyaru and Robolady, their life points fall to 5000, while Katie and Ariel's rises to 6450.

Skilled Dark Magician's Staff glows silver.

"Now, I'll use my Deckmaster's ability, by paying 500 life points, I can summon my Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1000) in defense mode!" she says, and the spectral dragon appears. "And that ends my turn."

Roboyaru draws. "I'll pass this turn."

Katie draws. "I activate Heavy Storm!" She says, and all magic and trap cards on the field are blown away, and Skilled Dark Magician's Staff is glowing golden. "There no more fusions!"

"We'll see about that," Robolady says. "Anything else?"

"No, actually, I'm activating the spell card, Magic Reclaim, since a spell card was destroyed, it returns to the field with the current effect, so my Swords returns with two turns still left. And now, I'll sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician to bring out my second Dark Magician!"

The red robed dark magician appears this time.

"Your Dark Magician can't beat my monster!" Roboyaru points out.

"I know, so for now I'm ending my turn," Katie says.

"Well, Katie has her favorite monster out," Darren says, but still looks worried.

"Yeah, but it can't beat the Mythic Dragon," Renee says. "But at least they got rid of that Fusion Gate."

Robolady draws, and laughs. "You think your rid of our fusion gate? Well guess what, me and my brother each have 3, so I'm just going to activate another one!" she says, and the vortex appears above them again. "So your just right back where you started, your move, Kaiba."

Ariel draws, and looks at Katie with a smile. "First, I flip summon my face down Skelangel, which lets me draw one card," she says, and draws a card. "Now, I'll switch my dragon to attack mode, and sacrifice my fairy for this card, the Flame Swordsman (1800/1600)!"

A warrior with a flaming sword appears.

"What, why did you do that? Its clearly weaker than my dragon!" Roboyaru demands. "What are you scheming..."

"A combo that will bring your dragon to his knees. Katie, I'll need your Dark Magician!" Ariel says.

"Oh, I get it..." Wendy says.

"Now, I'm going to fuse my Flame Swordsman with Katie's Dark Magician by using your own Fusion Gate!" Ariel says, and the two monsters get sucked into the vortex. "You two like fusions so much, do you know about this one? I summon, the **_Dark Flare Knight_** (2200/800)!"

The result is a black and red warrior.

"Your monster is still too weak to destroy our dragon," Roboyaru says.

"I know, but that won't matter in a moment, I activate the spell card Forcefull Blast, this forces your dragon to attack our Dark Flare Knight!" Ariel says.

"Fine, go Mythic Dragon, attack with Pentacle Holocost!" Roboyaru says, and the dragon blasts through the knight. "Happy?"

"Yes, actually," Ariel says, and their life points don't drop. "First of all, we take no damage from the attack, and second, since Dark Flare Knight was destroyed, I can summon Mirage Knight (2800/2000) to the field!"

A glowing knight with a scythe appears.

"So, its still too weak, unless..." Roboyaru says.

"Unless Mirage Knight has a special ability as well," Katie says, catching on.

"Now Mirage Knight, attack their Mythic Dragon!" Ariel commands, and the knight charges at the dragon, who tries to counter attack. "This is the effect of Mirage Knight, when it battles, it gains the attack of the opposing monster, raising his attack points to a grand total of 7800!"

"What, no, you can't!" Roboyaru shouts.

"I believe I just did!" Ariel shouts, and the Mirage Knight slashes right through the dragon, lowering Roboyaru and Robolady's life points to 2200. "Now, Divine Dragon Ragnarock, attack them directly!"

The spectral dragon blasts at the Robo twins, lowering their life points to 700.

"And I'll place one card face down to end my turn," Ariel says, and the Mirage Knight vanishes, being replaced by the Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman.

Roboyaru shakily draws. "I'll fuse my Big Koala and Des Kangaroo to summon Master of Oz (4200/3700)!" He says, and a giant green Koala wearing boxing gloves appears. "Now I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the swords!" He says, and the swords are blown away. "Master of Oz, attack the Divine Dragon with Takedown from Down Under!"

The giant Koala throws a punch at the dragon, and Katie and Ariel's life points fall to 3750.

"I'll end my turn there," he says.

Katie draws. "Game over for you, I activate Knight's Title, sacrificing my Dark Magician to bring out the Dark Magician Knight!" She says, and the magician vanishes, and a knight version of the Dark Magician appears. "Which lets me destroy your Master of Oz!"

The giant Koala explodes.

"And I'll give him the Axe of Dispair, raising his attack to 3500!" She says, and an axe appears in the knight's hands.

"Please, have mercy..." Robolady says.

"Not for you two, now Dark Magician Knight, destroy the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon, Dark Magic Blade!" Katie commands, and the knight slashes through the red dragon, dropping the Robo twin's life points to 0.

Katie's Duel Points rise to 8, and Ariel's rises to 10, putting her in the finals.

Suddenly, Roboyaru and Robolady's platforms crumble, and they go plumeting into the molten metal, screaming all the way.

"Good bye, and good riddence," Ariel says, and the two head over to their friends, who welcome them warmly.

"Wow, that was some match!" Darren says.

Ariel and Kisara nod, and walk off.

"Ariel..." Katie says.

The Kaiba daughter stops.

"We made a great team, Ariel, I hope if we ever meet in the arena again, it will be an honorable match," she says.

"So do I, Katie, so do I," Ariel says, and continues on her way.

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_Lord of Dragons' deckmaster ability was used by Seto Kaiba against Leichtor._

_Mythic Dragon was used by the Big 5 in the first virtual saga._

_Thanks to Cyber Commander for giving the inspiration for this chapter._

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_**Trap Neutralization**_

_**Continuous Spell**_

_**Image of a bear trap with an X over it. Select one continuous trap card on the field, and negate its effect for as long as this card is active. The user of the negated trap card draws an extra card on each of their standby phases.**_

_**Magic Reclaim**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a sorceror casting a spell. This card can only be activated in the turn that a spell card is destroyed, replay the spell card, if the effect includes anything that has already been used, those effects are taken into consideration.**_

_**Forcefull Blast**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of Dark Ruler Ha Des controlling a man, and forcing him to attack a small child. Pick one of your monsters and one of your opponent's, the two monsters must do battle in this turn, no matter what.**_

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_**Roboyaru-Fusion Master: When a fusion monster is targeted by a spell card, add any two fusion compatable monsters from your deck to your hand.**_

_**Robolady-Fusion Revival: When a fusion monster is destroyed or removed from the game, revive one of the monsters that was used in the fusion.**_

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_**Well, that chapter is finally done.**_

_**Next chapter: Its Wendy's turn again, and this time she's taking on an opponent with a ritual deck. Can she overcome the strongest ritual monsters in the game? Find out in, "Samsara."**_


	28. Samsara

_Well, I've written 28 chapters to date, an impressive feat for me, since I've never written that many before._

_However, reviews aren't as good as I'd hoped._

_Please, review more, and maybe I'll get better at writing._

_Anyway, its time for the next chapter, but first, I have to say something._

_I have a friend online that goes by the name of Onna-San, likewise she had a friend named Snowfire. Unfortunately, Snowfire met an untimely death some months ago in South Africa, TB. I didn't know Snowfire that well personaly, but Onna has told me somethings about her that make me want to do something._

_I am dedicating this fanfiction, and all that come after it to Snowfire's memory, after all, the smallest of lives can be great among us._

_I also have a friend named Irae K. Strife who is writting a Yu-Gi-Oh GX Futurefic, I think its not bad, but it could use some more reviews, so could some of my fans take a look at it for me, and please review? You can use search for her name, or she's on my favorites in my profile, which also has a clue to part of the plot of these first 3 fanfictions for real._

_Sorry, but let us continue on now._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

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_**Ritual, it is the very foundation of most religions...**_

_**It only makes sense that when Maximillion Pegasus made Duel Monsters, he created ritual cards.**_

_**There are some powerfull one's, like The Masked Beast or Shinato King of a Higher Plane, but all of those cards are rarely used out of their own types and attributes.**_

_**However, there is the rare duelist that breaks that tradition, and builds an entire deck focused around using ritual monsters, sort of like how Katie's last two opponents used fusion monsters.**_

_**My current opponent falls under that category...**_

_**And he's also one of the best duelists at the famous Duelist Academy...**_

_**This might be a tough duel, but it will get me one step closer to being in the finals!**_

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**CHAPTER 28:**

**SAMSARA**

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"So, Katie, what was it like having a tag team duel with one of the best duelists in the world as your partner?" Darren asks.

"Not too different from a duel with anyone else," Katie admits. "Other than having your life on the line that is."

The friends reach the edge of what appears to be a vast canyon that would rival even the Grand Canyon. It seems the only way to continue forward is to go down on a trail, so that's what they do.

When they reach the bottom of the canyon, they find themselves looking over a river, with only a wooden bridge leading across.

Standing in between them and the other end of the bridge is a young man about 18 years old. He's muscular, and wearing the uniform of an Obelisk Blue student at Duelist Academy.

He has a duel disk that registers him at 7 Duel Points

"Well if it isn't a bunch of wimps, just waiting to be crushed," he says in a texan accent. "Name's Lorenzo, third best duelist at the Academy, and one of you wimps are going to give me my 8th Duel Point!"

"I hate to break it to you, but your not getting any duel points from us," Wendy says. "I hate people like you, that think that just because they have some good cards, they can beat anyone, well, I'm your opponent now!"

"Fine," Lorenzo says, and activates his duel disk. "What's your name anyway?"

"Wendy Wheeler, and don't you forget it," Wendy says, and activates her own duel disk. "I'll pick Sashia the Samurai Squire as my deckmaster!"

The female samurai appears.

"And I think I'll pick, Manju of the 10,000 hands!" Lorenzo says, and a fairy with a lot of hands appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Wendy says, and draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and one card face down to end my turn."

Lorenzo picks up his deck. "I'm using my deckmaster ability, by forgoing my draw phase, I can add a ritual monster or spell card to my hand," he says, and takes a card out of his deck. "And I'll now activate the continuous spell card Samsara!"

A table with a chest on it appears.

"Now everytime monsters are sacrificed for a ritual, they're shuffled into my deck instead of going to my graveyard. So I'll start with this one, go Comencement Dance!"

A tan skinned dancer appears.

"Now, by sacrificing a monster in my hand, I can summon this gal, Performence of Sword (1950/1850)!"

A female dancer with two swords appears.

"And lets not forget about my Samsara card, so the monster I sacrificed goes back into my deck," Lorenzo says, and shuffles a card back into his deck. "Now Performance of Sword, attack her face down monster with Dance of Death attack!"

The female warrior does a dance, and strikes at the face down monster...

Only to be knocked back by Wendy's Ancient Master Yoshi, so Lorenzo's life points fall to 3950.

"Fine, your move," Lorenzo says.

_Okay, by the looks of things he has a ritual deck, that could be trouble, since there are a lot of powerful ritual monsters in the game,_ Wendy thinks as she draws. "Alright, I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Lorenzo draws. "Alright, I'll place one card face down as well, and end my turn."

Wendy draws. _Now that's more like it,_ she thinks. "I summon my Usagi Warrior (1500/1200), in attack mode!" She says, and a hare carrying a sword appears.

"Oh dear, its the attack of the Kung-Fu Bunny Rabbit, no matter, I'll activate my trap card, Sixth Sense!" Lorenzo says, and a dice appears. "I call two numbers, and if this die lands on either one, I draw that amount of cards, but if I call it wrong, I discard cards from my deck equal to that amount, and I'll call 5 and 6."

The die rolls, and lands on a 6.

"Good, now I can draw 6 cards," Lorenzo says, and draws 6 cards.

"Your gonna need them, after I equip Usagi with the Blade of Bushido, raising his attack points to 2200," Wendy says, and another sword appears in Usagi Warrior's hands. "Now, attack his Performance of Sword!"

The beast-warrior charges at the monster, and slashes through her.

Lorenzo's life points fall to 3750.

"I'll place one card face down, and its your move."

Lorenzo takes his deck out, and selects a card and adds it to his hand. "Alright, I'm going to activate my ritual, Shinato's Ark, by sacrificing a level 8 monster, I can summon this guy, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000)!" He says, and a giant 8-winged fairy appears. "Now, I'll play the spell card, Fullfillment of the Contract, I pay 800 life points, and I can bring back the monster I sacrificed for Shinato's ritual, the Masked Beast (3200/1800), in attack mode!"

His life points fall to 2950, but a huge demon carrying a club and with a mask covering his face appears.

"Now Shinato, avenge my Performence of Sword and attack her Hare with Divine Ring!" Lorenzo commands, and a ring of divine energy forms in Shinato's hands, and he launches it at Usagi Warrior, who blows up, and Wendy's life points fall to 2900. "Now to get rid of your ancient master, go Masked Beast, use Wrath of the Masked!"

The Masked demon bashes through the old samurai.

"One card face down, your move," Lorenzo says.

Wendy draws, and looks her hand over. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Lorenzo draws, and looks over his hand. _Okay, nothing good I can use right now, but I can still win unless that face down monster is something to stop my attacks,_ he thinks. "Shinato, attack her face down monster!"

The fairy lord sends his divine ring attack at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a young girl in tatered clothes that looks unhapy.

"That was my Unhappy Girl, since you attacked her while she was face down, your battle phase is over!" Wendy says.

"Fine, take your turn," Lorenzo says.

Wendy draws. "I'll activate Snatch Steal, and use it to take control of Shinato!" She says, and Shinato floats over to her side of the field. "And now Shinato, destroy his Masked Beast!"

The fairy lord blasts through the Masked Beast, lowering Lorenzo's life points to 2850.

"And I'll sacrifice Shinato, to bring out Minnanto, Samurai of Shadows (2300/2100), in attack mode!" She says, and the black armored samurai appears. "Your move."

Lorenzo draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Wendy draws. "I'll place one card face down, Minnanto, attack his face down monster!"

The samurai slashes through the monster, which is revealed to be a smiling metal jar, which sucks in Minnanto before exploding.

"That was my Cyber Jar," Lorenzo says. "Now we both pick up 5 cards, and summon all level 4 or lower monsters, and I have two of them, Sonic Bird and Senju of the 1,000 Hands, so I can add one more ritual combo to my hand," he says, and takes two cards out of his deck.

"Fine I've got a second Usagi, Mataza the Zapper (1300/800), and a third which I set in defense mode," Wendy says, and the 3 monsters appear. "Now Usagi destroy his Sonic Bird!"

The hare warrior slashes through the bird.

"Now one card face down, your move," Wendy finishes.

Lorenzo draws. "I'll start by activating this card, its called Relinquishing the Limit, thanks to this card, any monster who has an equip card gains an additional 500 attack points, and I can use my monster slots for m/t spaces as long as this remains on the field, so I'm going to activate a ritual known as Black Illusion Ritual!" He says, and an altar appears. "And to use this ritual, I have to sacrifice a monster that is level 1 or higher, so I'll just get rid of Senju, and summon one of my best ritual monsters, **_Relinquished_** (0/0)!"

The multiple-armed fairy vanishes, and is replaced by a huge ugly fiend with one eye and large wings with armor.

"And thanks to his special effect, I can take your monster, and treat it as an equip spell to Relinquished, so I'll take your Usagi Warrior!"

The hare warrior gets sucked into Relinquished, and appears in his armor, Relinquished's attack goes up to 2000 thanks to Lorenzo's spell card.

"Now Relinquished, destroy her Mataza with Pilfered Power attack!"

Relinquished tosses Usagi's sword at Mataza, and he explodes into pixels as Wendy's life points fall to 2300.

"You'll never find a way around Relinquished, take your turn."

Wendy draws. "I'll activate my Pot of Charity," she says, and takes a monster out of her graveyard before drawing 3 cards.

"Katie, do you think Wendy can beat that walking nightmare?" Darren asks Katie.

"I really hope so, I doubt it will be easy, but she might have a chance, if she can draw the right cards," Katie says.

_Yammoto, Release Restraints, and Gearfried the Iron Knight, might come in handy, but I don't have a good equip spell, so this will have to do,_ Wendy thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Lorenzo draws, and looks his hand over. "Relinquished, attack her face down monster!"

The fiend blasts at a monster which is revealed to be a Magician of Faith, so Wendy takes back her Blade of Bushido.

"Go," Lorenzo says, finishing his turn.

_Heart of the cards, guide me..._ Wendy thinks, and draws a card, then smirks. "I'm using my deckmaster's special ability, I remove 3 monsters in my graveyard in the game to summon Yammoto the Noble Samurai!"

The gold armored samurai appears.

"And here comes the combo, I summon my Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600), in attack mode!"

A warrior in black metal armor appears.

"And I think I'll also use this card, Release Restraints, I sacrifice Gearfried, and I can bring out this monster, Gearfried the Swordsmaster (2600/2200)!"

A bulky barbarian carrying a longsword appears.

"Now Gearfried, destroy Relinquished!"

The swordsman slashes through Relinquished, and Usagi warrior explodes, and Lorenzo's life points fall to 2150, and Wendy's falls to 1700.

"Sure it cost me 600 life points, but its enough to let Yammoto finish you off!" Wendy says, and Yammoto slashes through Relinquished, and this time the fiend explodes, dropping Lorenzo's life points to 0.

"Fine, you win," Lorenzo growls as Wendy's DP goes up to 9, and he leaves.

_Just one more duel and I'm in the finals!_ Wendy thinks.

**00000**

_Sixth Sense is a card in Japan that hasn't been released yet._

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_**Relinquishing the Limit**_

_**Continuous Spell**_

_**Image of Relinquished sucking in a monster. As long as this card is active all monsters with equip spells gain 500 attack points, and the user can use his or her monster zones for m/t cards.**_

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_**Deckmasters-**_

_**Manju of the 10,000 Hands-Ritual Sacrifice: You may skip your draw phase to add one ritual monster or spell card to your hand.**_

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_**Sorry for the wait, but this chapter is finally over.**_

_**Next chapter: Everyone knows the name of the game is Duel Monsters, but there are some duelists who perfer to win with spell and trap card combos instead of monsters. Renee duels one such opponent with a strategy that takes a lot of time, in "Time Wizard."**_


	29. Time Wizard

_Well, I'm glad for the reviews I did get, so lets move on._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh in any shape or form for now._

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_**In religion there are 7 deadly sins, sloth, greed, lust, pride, wrath, envy, and gluttony. Everyone is guilty of each of these sins at one point in their lives.**_

_**In Yu-Gi-Oh, there are some cards that one might argue is embodyments of these sins, like drawing cards could represent Greed, as embodied in the spell card Pot of Greed.**_

_**On the other hand Sloth is a sin that can be represented in the duelists themselves, those that use their cards to stall instead of attacking, and win through other means.**_

_**My current opponent certainly seems to fit that profile, and sloth deffinately weighs heavy on him.**_

_**But that doesn't make him an easy opponnent.**_

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**CHAPTER 29:**

**TIME WIZARD**

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As they leave the canyon area, it begins to get dark around them as they enter a forest of dead trees.

"This place is giving me the creeps..." Darren mutters, and suddenly a huge bell like sound is heard tolling.

They step into a clearing, towering above them is a huge clock tower, that is tolling 4 o'clock.

"Well, that explains why there's not many people here," Renee says with a shrug.

"Well, we better keep going, maybe we'll find a duelist, its not like we're just going to trip over one," Katie says, and stops short of tripping over a thin young man with a slight goatee, wearing all grey and with short brown hair. "Okay, so I stand corrected."

The young man yawns, and wakes up slowly. "Would you mind, some of us are trying to sleep here," he says.

"Sorry, we where just passing through, and didn't see you there," Katie says.

"Well, sorry's not going to cut it, there's not many duelists in this part of the woods, so how about I duel... you, the one who looks like Guardian Elma with blonde hair," he says. "My name's Tommy by the way."

"Good, then we'll duel now!" Renee says, and activates her duel disk after stepping back aways. "I'll pick as my deckmaster, Guardian Aitos!"

The native american like fairy appears behind her.

_"Hello Renee," _Aitos says. _"My deckmaster ability of Guardian Power will be very helpfull to you."_

_"What's it do?"_ Renee asks.

_"You can discard one card from your hand to remove up to 3 monsters from your opponent's graveyard, and power up all Guardian monsters on the field by 500 attack points for each that turn, but then you can't use it again,"_ Aitos explains.

"And I'll pick, the guy that's helped me so far, Time Wizard!" Tommy says, and a spellcaster shaped like a clock appears next to him.

"Aren't you going to get up?" Renee asks.

"I find it more comfortable to duel like this," Tommy says.

"LETS DUEL!" Renee says.

"Whatever," Tommy says as he draws his 5 cards, and then a sixth. "Okay, I'll start by placing two cards face down, and summoning Ryu Kishin Powered (1600/1200), in attack mode," he says with a yawn, and a pink gargoyle appears. "Your move."

Renee draws. _Alright, nothing really good right now, but I can at least do this as usual,_ she thinks. "Alright, I'll start by playing the spell card, Guardian Treasure, now I discard my hand," she says, and places 5 cards in the graveyard. "And I can draw 2 cards now, and for as long as this card is active, so I'll summon my Back Up Guardna (0/2200) in defense mode!" she says, and a purple demon appears. "And I'll play the spell card Purity of the Cemetary, but we'll get to that later, your turn."

Tommy draws, and shrugs. "I'll pass this turn," he says.

Renee draws her two cards. "I'll equip Guardna with Shooting Star Bow-Ceal!" she says, and a bow and arrow appears in the demon's hands. "And I'll summon my Guardian Ceal (1700/1600), in defense mode!" She says, and a wolf-like monster carrying a bow appears. _Okay, I gotta think this over, those face down cards are probably traps, and since he summoned a dark monster, I can probably guess what he's up to_, she thinks, and nods. "I'll end my turn there."

Tommy draws, and shrugs. "I'll place this card face down, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn," he says.

"This duel is off to a slow start," Darren says.

"Well, obviously Tommy is waiting for something," Wendy says.

Renee draws her two cards, but is interrupted by Tommy.

"I'm activating my face down card, Fearfull Earthbound, but we'll get to that in a moment, take your turn.

"Okay," Renee says, and looks her hand over. "I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Tommy draws. "I think I'll play my Spell Sanctuary, so we can both add a spell card to our hands," he says, and takes a card out of his deck as does Renee. "Of course, now all spell cards are counted as quick-plays. I'll just end my turn there."

Renee draws her two cards. "I activate the spell card I took out, Mystical Space Typhoon, which will destroy your face down card!" She says, and a windstorm wipes out the face down card, which is revealed to be a Crush Card virus. "Just as I thought, so I'll switch Guardian Ceal to attack mode!" She says, and the wolven guardian stands up. "Now attack his Ryu Kishin Powered, Shooting Star Bow Launch!"

Ceal launches an arrow at the gargoyle.

"I'll activate the spell card Shrink," Tommy says with a yawn.

"And I'll counter with this, the trap card Guardian Force, this negates your spell card since I don't have any monsters in my graveyard, and lets me activate an equip spell from my deck, so I'll activate my Rod of Silence-Kay'est, and equip it to my Guardna!" Renee counters, and a blue and purple rod appears in the demon's hands.

"Fine, but you still attacked, which activates the effect of my Fearfull Earthbound trap, you lose 500 life points," Tommy yawns as demonic jaws bite into Renee who lets out a yelp of pain as her life points fall to 3500.

"Fine, your move," Renee says.

Tommy draws, and grins a little. "I activate my Pot of Greed spell," he says, and draws 2 cards. "Now I place this card face down, and activate the key to my strategy, a spell known as, **_Final Countdown_**!"

"Huh, what?" Renee says in shock, and suddenly a machine hooks up to her, and a timer appears on her chest reading "20."

"I won this card when I won in the Tennesee State finals, normaly I have to pay 2000 life points, but thanks to my deckmaster's ability, any spell costs are cut in half," Tommy says, and his life points fall to 3000. "And now, in 20 turns, the bomb that is straped to you will explode, and you'll lose the duel."

"First Marie had Exodia, then the Earl had Destiny Board, now this guy has Final Countdown, is it just me or have we attracted some weirdoes with instant win decks?" Darren asks.

"I wouldn't call Marie a weirdo, but yes, you do have a point," Wendy says.

"That's not the worst of it," Katie says. "Unlike Exodia and Destiny Board, Final Countdown is sent to the graveyard after being activated, so the only way to stop it is to win the duel, and Final Countdown duelists always try to make that hard."

"Now, I'll place this card face down, and activate Emergency Provisions, I'll get rid of my first face down card and my Fearfull Earthbound in order to gain 2000 life points," he says, and his life points rise to 5000. "Your move."

Renee draws, but Tommy yawns and interrupts her again.

"I'm activating my trap card, Wall of Revealing Light, I sacrifice 3000 life points, and none of your monsters under 3000 attack can attack me," he says, and his life points fall to 2000 as a wall of light appears.

"Fine," Renee says, and looks over her two new cards. "I'll summon Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in defense mode, and place this card face down to end my turn," she says, and the mermaid guardian appears.

_**18 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

Tommy draws, and looks his hand over. "Okay, lets see here, ahh, I'll play the spell card Heavy With Sloth, I discard two cards," he says, and places two cards in his graveyard. "And for my next turn and your next turn, we can't draw or do battle, in exchange, the turns count as 2 instead of one, so I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Renee looks her hand over. "I'll just equip my Back Up Guardna with Gravity Axe-Grarl, and switch my Shooting Star Bow to Guardian Ceal, and use his effect to destroy your face down monster!" She says, and the bow vanishes, then the face down monster which is revealed to be a Stone Statue of the Aztecs explodes. "I'll end my turn."

_**16 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

"This is really bad, Renee's gotta win this duel!" Katie says.

Tommy looks his hand over, and shrugs as Purity of the Cemetary glows and his life points fall to 1800. "I'll just pass."

_**14 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

_14 turns left, and only 7 of them are mine, at least I can draw now_, Wendy thinks, and draws 2 cards. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and switch the Rod of Silence to Guardian Ceal to destroy your second face down monster!"

A Needle Worm explodes.

"Two more face down cards, your turn," Renee says.

Tommy draws, and shrugs as his life points fall to 1500. "I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Purity of the Cemetary, and summon my Cure Mermaid (1500/800) in attack mode to end my turn."

_**12 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

Renee draws her two cards. "I'll pass this turn."

Tommy draws, and his life points shoot up to 2300. "Cure Mermaid, attack her face down monster!"

The mermaid sends a furry of bubbles at the face down monster, but they're deflected and Tommy's life points fall to 2200.

"That was my Arsenal Summoner, not only does it have too high defense for your monster, I get to add a Guardian to my hand," Renee says, and takes a card out of her deck.

"One card face down, your move," Tommy yawns.

_**10 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

Renee draws, and looks her hand over for a moment. "Okay, I'll equip Ceal with my Rod of the Mind's Eye and my face down Twin Swords of Flashing Light-Tryce, and I'll sacrifice them both to destroy your two monsters!" she says, and the two monsters explode. "Now, I'll sacrifice my Arsenal Summoner for my Guardian Grarl!"

The dinosaur guardian appears.

"I'll activate my Swords of Revealing Light spell card," Tommy says with a yawn as the swords fall around Renee.

"Fine, your move," Renee says.

Tommy draws, and shrugs. "I'll just pass," he says.

_**8 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

Renee draws 2 cards, and sighs. "So will I," she says, and the first sword vanishes as she discards a card to maintain the hand limit of 6.

Tommy draws. "I'll just set this monster and place one card face down to end my turn," he says.

_**6 turns until Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

"I activate my Pyro Clock of Destiny, sure it means my Swords vanish as soon as you end your turn, but the countdown is almost complete," he says.

Renee draws her 2 cards, and sighs. "Go," she says.

Tommy draws. "Last move, Renee," he says, and motions for Renee to take her turn.

_**Final round before Tommy's automatic win by Final Countdown...**_

_Its hopeless, there's no way I can beat him now,_ Renee thinks, and closes her eyes.

_"Renee, don't think like that, just because it looks bleak doesn't mean you can't win!" _Aitos says.

_"But Aitos, I've got nothing left I can play..._" Renee says.

"_Renee, listen to your friends, they still have faith in you, you can win this, just put your faith in your deck, and in your heart, and you can do miracles, your father knew this, and you should too,"_ Aitos says, and Renee nods.

_Alright deck, I have faith in you, we'll see this through,_ she thinks, and draws her 2 cards, and looks at them in suprise. _Unreal!_

"Draw something good?" Tommy asks.

"Why, as a matter of fact I did, I activate Nobleman of Crossout, which will remove your face down monster from the game!" She says, and a knight slashes at the face down monster which is a Night Assailant.

"Fine, but you still can't attack thanks to my wall," Tommy yawns.

"Trust me, I've done the math, because I'm activating my deckmaster's special ability, I remove two monsters in your graveyard from the game to raise my Guardian's attack points by 1000, giving Grarl just enough to finish you off!" Renee says, and for the first time Tommy shows actual fear. "Now Guardian Grarl, finish him off with Gravity Axe Smash!"

The dinosaur guardian strikes Tommy across the chest with his axe, dropping his life points to 0.

Renee's DP goes up to 8, and she grins. "Yeah, I'm almost in the finals!" she says, and turns to look at Tommy.

He's fast asleep again.

"Oh well, lets move on," Katie says, and they start walking again.

**00000**

"Yes, perfect, just keep comming closer and closer into my trap," a sinister voice echos as a dark figure watches through a crystal ball. "You're mine, Darren Masters..."

**00000**

_Shrink and Crush Card Virus was used by Seto Kaiba on several occasions in the show._

_Fearfull Earthbound was used by Bakura against Marik._

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_**Heavy With Sloth**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a fat old king lounging around on his throne while being waited on hand and foot. Discard two cards to activate this effect. During your opponent's and your next turns both the draw and battle phases are skipped. The turns count as 2 each instead of 1.**_

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_**Guardian Aitos-Guardian Power: Remove up to 3 cards from your opponent's graveyard to increase the attack of all Guardian monsters on your field by 500 per card for the remainder of the turn. You cannot use this effect two turns afterwords.**_

_**Time Wizard-Magical Half: All spell cards that require life point payments have their payments cut in half.**_

**00000**

_**Yeah, I know, it wasn't that long again, but it'll be longer next chapter, I promise.**_

_**Who was that man in the shadows watching them? Find out next chapter as Darren takes on a Spirit Eliminator of his own, a monster feared by all in, "Trap Jammer."**_


	30. Trap Jammer

_Well, 30 chapters down, 25 to go._

_Also, if anyone wants to discuss this fanfiction I have a new forum about it._

_Finally, there is going to be a few, pre-generations fanfictions, which lead up to the events of these fanfictions, mostly Yu-Gi-Oh, but the second one that's out by now is X-Men Evolution, starring Marie Huebner, and her story of her life leading up to the Rapture._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Katie dueled the Earl of Demise, Wendy dueled Ruin, Queen of Oblivion, and Renee dueled Horus' Servant. All 3 of those refered to themselves as the Spirit Eliminators, hired by Doppler to defeat duelists in the tournament.**_

_**Now its my turn, sealed away from my friends, I have to take on the mortal enemy of the Dark Scorpions, and a monster that most duelists like to avoid.**_

_**I don't know anything about this guy, or even why he's doing this to me of all people.**_

_**All I do know is that no matter how hard it might be, I gotta win this duel!**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 30:**

**TRAP JAMMER**

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After about half an hour following the path, Katie and friends find themselves right back where they started at the Clock Tower.

"Okay, either there's another giant clock tower with a lazy boy sleeping against a tree, or we're lost," Renee says.

"Yeah, and there's a wall behind the tower that we can't get passed, so we'll have to find someway into the tower," Wendy says.

The 4 friends start feeling around the walls, when Darren steps on a rock, which opens a door, and he's pulled in.

"Darren?" Katie says, looking around. "Oh no, he's gone..."

**00000**

Darren finds himself being dragged down a hallway being surrounded by moving gears and other things you'd find inside a clock.

"Okay, what's the big idea?" Darren shouts as he's dragged, but gets no response.

He's thrown into a room where there's a lot of tick-tock sounds with a bell above him.

"Well, if it isn't Darren Masters," a sinister voice says from a few feet in front of him.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Darren demands.

"As you wish," the voice says, and suddenly the lights turn on.

Seated on a throne of pure black obsidian, carved to look more fiendish than anything Darren had ever seen, was a man clad in purple armor with the eye of horus on his helmet, and 3 long claws on each hand.

"Makyura the Destroyer..." Darren says with a growl.

"Yes, that's me, and tonight will be the destruction of you!" Makyura says. "You won't be able to leave unless you and I duel right now!"

"Fine, your a Spirit Eliminator, aren't you?" Darren asks, and activates his duel disk. The transformation isn't much, but he loses sight in one of his eyes as he transforms into Don Zaloog. "Guess that answers my question."

"I've been waiting nearly 2,500 years to have my revenge on the Dark Scorpions, and your perfect for that outlit!" Makyura says, and a black duel disk appears on his arm as well as a deck.

"LETS DUEL!" They say in unison.

"I'll go first," Makyura says, and draws, looking over his hand. "I'll place 3 cards face down, and thanks to my deckmaster special ability, I can activate this trap card without waiting a turn, so I activate, Metal Reflect Slime (0/3000)!"

A metalic monster appears crouching in defense mode.

"And this is a trap monster, so it can defend me, your move."

_I'll bet its not the only trap in his deck, he probably has a trap deck, knowing my luck, _Darren thinks, and draws. "Alright, I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Makyura draws. "I'll activate my face down trap card, Jar of Greed," he says, and draws another card. "And I'll activate this trap card, Solemn Wishes, and also my Embodyment of Apophis (1600/1800)!"

A demonic half snake, half man creature appears.

"Now attack his face down monster!" Makyura commands, and the demon slashes at the face down monster, which is Darren's Rose the Seductive, so Makyura's life points fall to 3600. "Fine, your move."

Darren draws. "I'll sacrifice Rose to summon her teammate, Gorg the Strong (1800/1500 + 500), in attack mode!" He says, and the bald headed strong man of the Dark Scorpions appears. "Now attack his Embodyment, and send it back to Apophis, Scorpion Bash!"

Gorg raises his mace, and charges at the demon.

"Sorry kid, go trap card, Reverse Trap, so instead of you giving him a bonus, he loses 500 attack points!" Makyura says, and Gorg is weakened a little, then the Embodyment of Apophis slashes through him, and Darren's life points fall to 3700.

"I'll, uhh, place this card face down, and end my turn," Darren says.

Makyura draws, and his life points rise to 4100. "Your bad at bluffing, but just in case I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon!" He says, and a gust of wind blasts away Darren's face down Widespread Ruin. "Now Embodyment of Apophis, attack him directly!"

The demon snake-man slashes at Darren, and his life points fall to 2100.

Darren draws. "I'll activate my spell card Giant Trunade!" He says, and a wind blows all cards back into their user's hands. "Now I'll place a card face down, and activate Card Destruction, so you lose those traps!" He says, and both players discard their hands, and then draw the same amount. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Makyura draws. "I activate the spell card, Trip Trap, so I can take one trap card out of my graveyard," he says, and his Solemn Wishes slips out of his graveyard. "And I'll activate it again, while placing two more cards face down."

Darren draws, and looks over his hand. _Alright, this guy has a trap deck, so attacking would be risky, for all I know one of those face down cards could be a Magic Cylinder, but this will help, _he thinks. "I'll play Pot of Greed," he says, and draws 2 cards. "Alright, I'll play the spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon to wipe out your face down card!"

The wind blows away a Mirror Force.

"But you activated my other trap card, Driving Snow, since you destroyed one of my traps, I'll destroy your face down card!" Makyura says, and a blast of snow destroys Darren's face down card.

**00000**

At that moment, Katie, Renee, and Wendy are trying to figure out what happened to Darren by searching around the area he dissapeared.

"There's gotta be a secret switch or something around here somewhere," Katie mutters.

"Yeah, but its not like we're going to just step on it like..." Renee says, and steps on a rock, which opens the door.

"You where saying?" Wendy asks.

Renee just scowls, and the 3 girls walk through the door.

**00000**

"By destroying my face down card, you activated its effect, its called Dark Coffin, which activates one of two effects, but since you have no monsters, you have to discard a card at random from your hand," Darren says.

"Fine," Makyura says, and holds his cards out face down, and takes a card at random, showing it as a Waboku.

"I'll set one more monster in defense mode, plus one card face down, and end my turn," Darren says.

Makyura draws, and nods. "I'll activate my Jar of Greed trap card," he says, and draws one card. "And I'll place 3 cards face down to end my turn."

Darren draws. _Oh yeah, its a good thing I took this card out of my side-deck, I almost forgot about it,_ he thinks. "I'm going to sacrifice my face down monster to summon a trap duelist's worst nightmare, go Jinzo!"

A face down Mystic Tomato vanishes, and is replaced by the huge balding android.

"No, Jinzo negates all trap cards!" Makyura says in realization.

"And since you most likely have no regular monsters in that deck of yours, you're defenseless against my attacks, Jinzo, attack him directly, Cyber Energy Shock attack!" Darren commands, and the android blasts Makyura, and his life points fall to 1700.

Katie, Renee, and Wendy run in at that moment. "Darren, your alright!" Katie says, recognizing her friend.

"In a manner of speaking, he's taking on Makyura the Destroyer right now, so that must be a spirit eliminator," Wendy realizes. "This could be trouble."

"Hey, no sweat, he's got a trap deck, and I've still got Jinzo on the field," Darren says.

Makyura takes this oppertunity to begin his turn. "I'll activate, Double Snare!"

"Oh dear," Katie says.

"What, what does that card do?" Darren asks.

"This handy little spell card is a trap duelist's best friend, it automaticaly destroys any card that negates trap cards, like your Jinzo!" Makyura says with a laugh, and Jinzo explodes. "Which means I can use my traps again, like my face down card, another Embodyment of Apophis (1600/1800)!"

The snake demon appears again.

"And I'll play the spell card Dimensional Divison, this will remove your face down monster until the end of my turn!" Makyura says, and Darren's face down monster vanishes. "Now Embodyment of Apophis, attack him directly!"

The snake demon slashes at Darren, and his life points fall to 500.

"And I'll end my turn by replaying Solemn Wishes."

"Without Jinzo on the field, Darren's in trouble," Katie says worriedly.

"Have faith, trap decks are strong, but not invincible," Wendy says.

Darren draws. "I'll place one card face down as well, and sacrifice my face down Mystic Tomato to summon Freed the Matchless General (2300/1700)!" He says, and the battle scarred general appears. "Now destroy his Embodyment of Apophis!"

The general slashes through the snake demon, and Makyura's life points take a dive, stopping at 1000.

"Go trap card, Multiple Destruction, we have to discard all our cards, and then draw 5 more cards!" Makyura says, and discards his one card, and his life points fall to 800, then he draws 5, while Darren discards 4, and draws 5. "And since I drew, I gain 500 life points," Makyura says, and his life points rise to 1300.

Darren looks his hand over, and smiles. "I'll end my turn by placing one more card face down."

Makyura draws, and his life points rise again to 1800. "Now I activate Pot of Greed, so I can draw 2 more cards," he says, and forcefully draws 2 cards as his life points rise again to 2300. _Crap, nothing that can defend me from an attack, but this will work,_ he thinks. "I'll play another Metal Reflect Slime (0/3000)!"

The giant metalic slime appears again.

"No monster you have can break through his defense, but just in case I activate a card called Warrior Elimination, which destroys all warriors on the field, which doesn't target Freed, so he is destroyed!" Makyura says, and Freed explodes. "Take your turn now."

Darren grins, as he draws. "First, I activate the spell card Monster Reborn, to revive the brawn of the Dark Scorpions, Gorg the Strong!" He says, and the bald-headed strongman of the Dark Scorpions appears. "Now I didn't want to do this, but I'm moving myself to the field!" He says, and does a flip and lands on the field. "Which means the monster I'm acting as, the leader of the Dark Scorpions Don Zaloog is in play. So I can now play my face down card, Mustering of the Dark Scorpions!"

The card flips up, and Makyura gasps.

"That lets you summon all Dark Scorpion monsters in your hand to the field..." he says in realization.

"Yep, so I should really be thanking you," Darren says. "So first, I summon the beauty of the Dark Scorpions, Meanae the Thorn!"

The brown haired female thief appears, cracking her whip.

"Then the youngest member, Chick the Yellow!"

The blonde haired thief appears.

"And the master of Disarment, Cliff the Trap Remover!"

The spiky-haired master of disarment appears.

"And now, I activate the face down card, Dark Scorpion Combination, so we can attack you directly!"

The 5 thieves strike Makyura down, and his life points fall to 300.

"So, our effects are now activated, first Chick will return Solemn Wishes to your hand..."

Makyura growls, and places the card in his hand.

"Now my effect will have you discard it."

The card bursts into flame in Makyura's hand.

"Now Gorg's effect will discard one card off the top of your deck."

Gorg grabs a card which is revealed to be a Blast Held by a Tribute.

"Cliff will destroy your face down card."

The face down card, a Dead Dragon Zoma explodes.

"And with Meanae's effect, I get to add one card with Dark Scorpion in its name to my hand," Darren finishes, and takes a card out of his deck, and adds it to his hand. "While I'm at it, I'll place two cards face down, and end my turn."

Makyura draws. "I'll play my last Embodyment of Apophis!" He says, and the snake demon appears a third time. "Now I'll destroy you, Embodyment of Apophis, win me this duel by attacking Darren and his deckmaster!"

The snake demon charges at Darren, and everyone crosses their fingers.

"Sorry Makyura, go trap card Reinforcements, which increases my attack to 1900, and since its too late to call off your attack, I win the duel!" Darren says, and counters with a slash of his rapier, the demon explodes, and Makyura's life points fall to 0.

"No, impossible, inconcievable, I couldn't have lost!" Makyura shouts.

"Looks like you failed like last time, at the feet of the Dark Scorpions!" Darren says, and his 4 monsters laugh as they vanish, and Darren turns back to normal.

A portal opens, and sucks the 4 friends in, leaving Makyura behind.

**00000**

_Those fools have failed me again, now only one of my Spirit Eliminators remains, so much for that idea,_ Doppler thinks. _Maybe I'll get lucky, and Vampire Lord won't mess up, which I highly doubt will happen._

She blasts another random servant.

**00000**

_Metal Reflect Slime was used by Marik I think._

_Trap Trip was used by Mad Dog against Zane earlier in season 2._

_Dead Dragon Zoma was used by Bakura against little Yugi._

**00000**

_**Dimensional Division**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of an earthquake colapsing the Different Dimension Gate. Remove one face down monster on the field until the end of the turn.**_

**00000**

_**Makyura the Destroyer-Trap Activation: Trap cards can be activated at any time, unless otherwise stated.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that's 5 Spirit Eliminator duels, but I still have one more planned, more on that later.**_

_**Anyway, next chapter we're back to Katie dueling, and she's dueling an opponent with a connection to an earlier duelist. Can Katie beat a ghastly deck of dragons? Find out in, "Deal of Phantom."**_


	31. Deal of Phantom

_First of all, I'd like to thank Rex the Emerald Dragon for allowing me to use the Phantom Dragons._

_Also, Irae K. Strife isn't an original carachter of mine, she is actually a friend of mine who is letting me use her in the fanfiction._

_Anyway, moving on._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, the Phantom Dragons, or Irae K. Strife._

**00000**

_**Well, things are starting to get more interesting now, we've all beaten a Spirit Eliminator, and met some of the strangest duelists in the game.**_

_**You remember Marie Huebner, right? She was friendly enough, but being energetic wasn't exactly high on her list of things she does a lot.**_

_**Well, my current opponent, is the exact opposite, she's one of those people that seem to have boundless energy, and is deffinately the exact opposite of Marie.**_

_**Why did I bring Marie up in the first place? Well, you won't believe me.**_

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**CHAPTER 31:**

**DEAL OF PHANTOM**

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The mirror they cross through brings them into a room filled with mirrors.

"Okay, this is weird..." Katie says, and looks in one of the mirrors, she's stretched out, and distorted. "Its a fun-house, we're in a fun-house..."

They start moving forward, and gastly forms seem to cross in front of them.

"A haunted fun house..." Darren shudderse.

"Nooo, that would be my doing," a childish voice says from somewhere nearby.

A rather smallish girl, just about an inch or two taller than Katie appears out of nowhere, wearing all white and blue, with a trench coat flowing behind her. She smiles cutely, and two cat ears are poking out of her black hair while a long cat tail curls around behind her.

"A... neko?" Renee says puzzled.

"In a manner of speaking," the girl says, tilting her head at the 4. "I'm Irae, Irae Kitty Strife, second best duelist in New York State, behind my sister, who of course is the best in the UNAS (United North American States), but oh well, you can't win them all."

"Wait, UNAS? You mean Marie? Your Marie's sister?" Wendy asks.

"Adopted, long story, but I'm not here to bore you with my life story, I wanna duel!" Irae says with a giggle, and they notice a duel disk on her arm.

"Yeah, sure, why not," Katie says, and activates her duel disk, and Irae does the same.

"Hmm, decisions, decisions..." the neko girl says, looking over her deck. "Ooh, I know, this will do, I'll pick as my deckmaster the Lord of Dragons!"

A spellcaster with a dragon skull for a helmet, and a long flowing cape appears next to her.

"And I'll pick, the Sorceror of Dark Magic!" Katie says, and her black robed spellcaster appears next to her.

"DUEL!" the two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Irae says with a giggle, and looks her hand over. "I'll start with a spell card called Phantom Dragon Nest, we'll get to that in a moment, but I'll start with this monster, go Phantom Dragon Shatter (800/500), in defense mode!"

A ghostly dragon coming out of an egg appears.

"A Phantom Dragon?" Darren says confused.

"I've heard of them briefly," Renee says. "From what I can understand, they all have an effect of some sorts, and they can be dangerous."

"Well, that's a given, dragon decks usualy can be a little dangerous," Wendy says.

"And, I'll end with one card face down," Irae says with a giggle.

_Well, at least she doesn't talk like a valley-girl wannabe_, Katie thinks as she draws. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" she says, and the lesser version of the Dark Magician appears. "Now attack her Phantom Dragon Shatter!"

The magician blasts at the small dragon, but the attack just goes through it.

"Sorry, my Phantom Dragons can't be destroyed on the opponent's turn after they're summoned, and any damage I would take would be reduced to zero," Irae says with a giggle. "Is that all?"

"One card face down, and its your move," Katie says.

Irae draws. "I activate the effect of Phantom Dragon Nest, I draw one card, and if its a level 4 or lower phantom dragon, its normal summoned to the field," she says, and picks up her next card. "Lucky me, go Phantom Dragon Defender (300/1800), in defense mode!"

A large winged ghost dragon appears.

"And I'll place one more card face down, and use my deckmaster's special ability, I pay 500 life points, and I can summon another dragon from my hand, so I'll sacrifice my Shatter, to summon my Phantom Dragon Drake (2500/1500)!" Irae says, and a huge serpentine ghost dragon appears as her life points fall to 3500. "And I can activate my trap card, Vexing Phantom Trick Trap, so I can equip the dragon I just sent to the graveyard to your Magician, and he'll lose 800 attack points."

The dragon in a broken egg appears, and attaches to Skilled Dark Magician, who's attack points fall to 1100.

"Now Phantom Dragon Drake, destroy her magician with Phantom Shadow Blast Attack!" Irae says with a giggle as the dragon blasts away Katie's Skilled Dark Magician, and her life points fall to 2600. "Your move, Katie."

Katie draws, and looks over her hand. _Well, this will be risky, but I gotta summon something, or she'll attack me next,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," she says.

Irae draws and giggles. "I'll summon my Phantom Dragon Twin Head (1500/1000)!" she says, and a bizare twin-headed dragon appears.

"These Phantom Dragons are getting weird," Darren says.

"Well, they are supposed to be dead, I think," Renee says. "But they're also supposed to be extremely rare, I've never heard of anyone who's ever gotten the whole set."

"Well, this might be interesting," Wendy admits, and sighs. "Katie's a great duelist and all, and I wish the best for her, but I have to admit, she does have her work cut out for her."

"Alright Phantom Dragon Twin Head, destroy her face down monster!" Irae commands, and the dragon blasts through a monster that is revealed to be a young spellcaster in purple robes.

"That was my Apprentice Magician, now I can take a level 2 or lower spellcaster from my deck, and set it face down," she says, and takes a card out of her deck, and it appears face down.

"Okay, Phantom Dragon Drake, destroy that one," Irae says, and the larger dragon blasts through another Apprentice Magician, which is replaced by a third face down monster. "One card face down, your move."

Katie draws. "I'll flip summon my face down Old Vindictive Magician, which destroys your Phantom Dragon Drake!" she says, and an old magician appears, and blasts away the dragon. "And I'll sacrifice him for my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

The blonde apprentice of the Dark Magician appears with a giggle and a wink, Irae blushes a little.

"Now Dark Magician Girl, attack her Phantom Dragon Defender with Dark Burning Attack!"

The spellcaster sends a magic blast at the defensive dragon.

"Go trap card, Phantom Dragon Wings, which will make my Phantom Dragon Defender resistant to your attack!" Irae counters, and the attack bounces off the dragon.

"Fine, take your turn," Katie says.

Irae draws. "I'll activate my spell card, Phantom Dragon Knights' calling, I sacrifice my two dragons, to summon two Phantom Dragon Knights (2000/1600) to the field!" She says, and two knight-like dragons appear.

"What's the point, they're attack points are equal to my Dark Magician Girl's?" Katie points out.

"Not after I activate the spell card, Shield Attack, I discard one card from my hand," Irae says, discarding a Sinister Serpent. "And I equip it to your Dark Magician Girl, so her attack and defense points are switched."

Dark Magician Girl looks a little nervous now.

"Now my Phantom Dragon Knight, attack her Dark Magician Girl!" Irae commands, and the dragon knight slashes through Katie's female magician. "This activates his special ability, giving him attack points equal to half your monster's attack, so he now has 3000 attack points. And my second Knight will attack you directly!"

The knight slashes at Katie, and her life points fall to 600.

"Your move Katie," Irae says.

Katie draws. "I activate Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards. _This will help_, she thinks, and swiftly discards 2 cards. "And I'll play Monster Reborn on my Dark Magician Girl!"

The blonde sorceress appears again.

"And I'll activate Sage's Stone, to summon my Dark Magician!" Katie continues, and her Dark Magician appears. "And then I'll play Dedication Through Light and Darkness, so I can sacrifice my Dark Magician to summon my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2300)!"

The black robed spellcaster appears.

"And thanks to his effect, I get a spell card back, namely my Sage's Stone, which I'll use to summon my second Dark Magician!"

The Green robed Dark Magician appears.

"All three of her magicians at the same time?" Renee says in suprise.

"Yeah, she told me about that combo once, but she's never been able to pull it off, this is the break she needed," Wendy says.

"And I'll equip my Dark Magician of Chaos with Magic Formula, raising his attack to 3300," Katie says, and a book appears the black robed spellcaster's hands. "And since I have one Dark Magician in my Graveyard, my Dark Magician Girl has 2300 attack points, so she'll destroy your weaker knight, Dark Burning Attack!"

The female magician blasts through the dragon knight.

"And my Dark Magician of Chaos will destroy your stronger one, Chaos Scepter Blast!"

The magician blasts through the other dragon knight, and Irae's life points fall to 2900.

"Oh dear..." Irae says, gulping as she looks at the Dark Magician.

"Dark Magician, attack her directly with Dark Magic Attack!" Katie commands.

The magician blasts Irae, and she screams as her life points fall to 400.

"Your move," Katie finishes.

"Pretty impressive combo," Irae groans, and draws. "Go, Phantom Dragon Nest," she says, and draws a card. "Phantom Dragon Baby in defense mode (1200/1300)."

A small baby dragon appears.

"I activate my Pot of Greed," Irae pants, and draws 2 cards. _Phantom Dragon Quiet Purity, my best monster, but I can't use it right now,_ she thinks. "I'll play Pot of Charity," she says, and takes a card out of her graveyard before drawing three cards. _This might help,_ she thinks. "I activate my spell card, Phantom Dragon Mirror, so I can summon my other two Phantom Dragon Babies."

Two more dragons appear.

"And I'll place one card face down to end my turn," she finishes.

Katie draws. "Go trap card, Thunder of Ruler, so you have to skip your battle phase!" Irae says.

"Fine," Katie says, and looks over her hand. "I'll place one card face down, and end my turn."

Irae draws. "I sacrifice my three Phantom Dragon Babies to summon my strongest monster, Phantom Dragon Quiet Purity (3000/3000)!" She exclaims, and a huge ghastly dragon appears with a roar. "Now I can destroy either all your monsters, or all your spell and trap cards, and I'll pick the latter."

The dragon blasts through Katie's s/t cards.

"Now Quiet Purity, destroy her Dark Magician Girl and win me the duel!" Irae commands, and the dragon blasts through DMG, and the attack goes on through Katie.

"I discard my Kuriboh, so I take no damage," Katie says, and a wall of Kuribohs appears, and the attack fizzles out.

"Fine, I'll end my turn," Irae says.

Katie draws. "I'll switch my two magicians to defense mode, and end my turn."

Irae draws. "Quiet Purity, attack her Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The dragon blasts through the spellcaster.

"Your move, I doubt there's anything in your deck that can help you now."

_She's wrong, there is something, but I'll have to draw it first, and it could be at the bottom of my deck for all I know_, Katie thinks, and draws. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!"

A wall of swords falls around Irae.

"No, not the swords!" Irae says.

"That's right, now I'll end my turn with one card face down," she says.

Irae draws, and shrugs. "I'll just pass," she says.

Katie draws, and looks at it. _My last Apprentice Magician, not what I wanted, but I can at least defend with it,_ she thinks, and sets it face down. "Go."

Irae shrugs, and draws. "Well, your persistant, I'll give you that, take your turn," she says.

Katie draws. _Polymerization, halfway there,_ she thinks. "Go."

Irae draws. "I'll end my turn, which means your swords are gone," she says, and the swords vanish, and Phantom Dragon Quiet Purity roars. "You didn't get much out of your three free turns, now did you?"

_Come on, Katie, this duel isn't over and you know it, there's one card in that deck of yours that can win it for you,_ Wendy thinks.

_Come on heart of the cards, if your out there, give me the card I need..._ Katie thinks, and closes her eyes as she draws, and when she opens them, she smiles. "Its been fun Irae, but now the duel ends, I activate Polymerization to fuse together my Dark Magician, and the Buster Blader in my hand!"

"No, not those cards!" Irae gasps.

"That's right, I fuse them together to form the mighty, **_Dark Paladin_** (2900/2400 + 4500)!" She says, and the two fuse together to create a spellcaster with a sword like staff. "Now Dark Paladin, attack her Phantom Dragon Quiet Purity!"

The dragon slayer jumps up, and slashes right through the dragon, and Irae gets knocked back from the force of the blast as her life points drop to 0.

Katie's DP rises to 9.

"Wow, what a great duel, it was an honor facing you," Irae says, shaking Katie's hand vigerously. "I can see why Marie thinks you could make it far."

"You never did tell us your connection to Marie," Katie says.

"Oh, her family took me in when I was younger, we might be different, but we get along," Irae says, and waves them off. "Good luck!"

Katie and her friends walk out of the fun house, while Katie stares at her point read out.

_Just one more win, and I'm in the finals,_ she thinks with a smile.

**00000**

_The Phantom Dragons are the creation of Rex the Emerald Dragon, he gets all credit for them._

_Sorceror of Dark Magic's deckmaster ability was created by Cyber Commander._

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_**Finally, that chapter is done, and the finals are drawing closer.**_

_**Next time, Wendy is one duel away from making it to the finals, but she's facing a guest star from another one of my fanfictions. Who is it? Find out in, "Chaos Necromancer."**_


	32. Chaos Necromancer

_Wow, I got this done fast._

_I've written about 3 GX fanfictions, each with a different main carachter, and different qualaties among them._

_Two of which you'll find to be connected to this one, we've already seen Jamie from my Apockalypse at Academia stories, and now its time to bring someone else in, this time from A Divided Heart._

_Who? Well, read further to find out._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh still._

**00000**

_**Well, this is it, if I can win this duel, I'm in the finals.**_

_**Out of all the opponents I've faced, I have to admit my least favorite, next to my sister, was Jackson, he was the very deffinition of a man any respectable woman should hate.**_

_**The ironic thing is, I'm now facing a duelist who's from the same academy he goes to, and she's deffinately a lot better than he ever was.**_

_**You'd think that since a superior duelist to him was a girl, that Jackson wouldn't be such a pig, but no such luck.**_

_**But still, I have to win this duel.**_

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**CHAPTER 32:**

**CHAOS NECROMANCER**

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They leave the funhouse behind to find themselves in a huge amusement park, with every type of ride imaginable, its hard not to stare at their surroundings.

However, their attention is quickly diverted as they notice a familiar looking jacket, a white and blue jacket of an Obelisk Blue student at one of the Duelist Academies.

This one on the other hand belongs to a girl, standing at nearly 6 feet, and with long blonde hair and red highlights.

At the moment, she's bending over a trash can while puking.

"That is the last time I let Summer convince me to eat nachos before riding a roller coaster," she mutters, before standing up, and turning around to see the 4 friends. "Sorry about that, you looking for a duel?"

"Yeah, I'll duel you," Wendy says, and activates her duel disk. "I didn't catch your name, I'm Wendy Wheeler."

"Marissa Sanders, top duelist at the Atlantic Duel Academy," Marissa says, and activates her own duel disk, her duel points registering at 8. "And I'll pick this as my deckmaster, the D.D Warrior Lady!"

"I guess I'll pick Sashia the Samurai Squire then," Wendy says, and the female apprentice of Yammoto appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll start," Marissa says, and draws. "And I'll play a spell card called D.D Borderline, so neither of us can attack unless a spell card is in my graveyard."

A blue wall appears between the two duelists.

"And I'll summon my Banisher of the Light (100/2000), in defense mode!" She says, and a pious holy man appears on her side of the field. "And I'll place one card face down, and equip my Banisher with Heart of Clear Water, to end my turn."

Wendy draws, only to be interrupted by Marissa. "Go trap card, Curse of Darkness!"

A black aurora surrounds the two of them.

"Oh, I get it," Katie says.

"Get what?" Darren asks confused.

"Marissa has a chaos deck, that much is obvious, a deck that relies on removing cards from the game," Katie says. "At the moment, I can't tell exactly what her strategy is, but I'm sure that it has a lot to do with those cards. You see, normaly the bane of D.D Borderline is that it would be worthless the minute Marissa played a spell card that wasn't continuous or equip, but Banisher of the Light would remove those types of spell cards from the game, while Heart of Clear Water protects it."

"Yeah, I see, but what about her Curse of Darkness?" Darren asks.

"Curse of Darkness makes it so whenever a player activates a spell card, they take 1000 points of damage, so Wendy would be less inclined to activate spell cards to destroy D.D Borderline," Renee says. "And I'll bet Marissa has something else up her sleave to make sure she can activate spell cards."

"Okay," Wendy says, and looks over her hand. "I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Marissa draws. "I summon, Des Wombat (1600/600), in attack mode!" She says, and a brown furred animal appears. "Now I can activate spell cards without taking damage, and I'll start with Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards, placing the card in her pocket. "And that's all for me."

Wendy draws. _This stinks, her spell card makes it so I can't attack, and I can't use a spell card to destroy it without damaging my life points,_ she thinks, and looks her hand over with a sigh. "One monster in defense mode, your move."

"You should know, only one duelist has ever broken through this combo, and my record still stands at undefeated," Marissa says, and draws. "I'll play Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, then discards two, placing them in her pocket. "And I'll play this spell card, a little thing called Miracle Dig, since I have 5 cards removed from the game, I can place two of them in my graveyard," she says, and takes two cards out, and places them in her graveyard. "But they won't be staying there, I'm removing them both from the game to summon this monster, Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

The gold and violet armored warrior appears.

"And I'll equip him with the spell card Breaking the Borderline, so he can attack through my D.D Borderline, but if he attacks directly, he loses half of his attack points. So he'll first attack the face down monster you set last turn!"

The soldier slashes through a monster which is revealed to be a Usagi Warrior.

"And since he destroyed a monster, he can attack again, destroying your other face down monster!"

The soldier destroys a woman with long blonde hair, and wearing a fedora.

"That was my Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, so I can special summon this monster from my deck, Hero Kid (300/600)!" Wendy says, and a young warrior with space-suit armor appears. "And I can summon two more while I'm at it," she says, and two more hero kids appears.

"I'll end my turn by activating Dimensional Fissure, just in case," Marissa says.

Wendy draws. "I'll sacrifice my 3 Hero Kids, to summon Gilford the Lightning!"

A huge warrior in ceremonial armor appears.

"And since I sacrificed 3 monsters for him, he destroys all your monsters!"

The knight swings his sword, and the 3 monsters are destroyed in a blast of lightning.

"Your move," Wendy finishes.

Marissa draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and activate my Emergency Provisions spell card, to get rid of Curse of Darkness and D.D Borderline," she says, and flinches as her life points fall to 3000, and then rise to 5000. "And I'll place one card face down to end my turn."

Wendy draws. "I'll set a monster as well, and activate my Nobleman of Crossout on your face down monster," she says, and a nobleman slashes through the monster, which is revealed to be a D.D Warrior. "Now Gilford the Lightning, attack her directly!"

"I activate a trap card called Power Wall, this lets me discard cards from my deck, and reduce the damage by 100 for each card I discard, and I'll discard 27 of them," Marissa says, and her life points fall to 4900.

"Why would she just throw away over half her deck like that?" Renee wonders.

"Dimensional Fissure removed them from the game, now she has a better stock of cards removed from the game, giving her more of a chance play certain combos," Katie says. "Most likely she wants it for a card like Gren Maju Da Eiza, or something similar."

_Little does she know, I already have that card in my hand, but I don't have enough monsters to use, I'll have to wait,_ Marissa thinks.

"Go," Wendy says.

Marissa draws. "I'll activate my Chaos Greed Spell card, since my graveyard is empty, and I have at least 4 cards removed from the game, I can draw two cards," she says, and draws 2 cards. "I'll place one card face down, and activate my Dark Core Spell card, I discard one card from my hand," she says, and places a card in her pocket. "And then I remove Gilford from the game!"

The mighty warrior is sucked up through a portal.

"And now I'll use my deckmaster's special ability, I pay 500 life points, and I can summon Gilford back to the field on my side," Marissa says as her life points fall to 4400, and the warrior appears on her side of the field. "Now attack her face down monster!"

The warrior slashes at the face down monster, which is revealed to be another Usagi Warrior.

"Your move," Marissa finishes.

Wendy draws, and glances at Marissa. _This might help, but the timing has to be perfect, so I won't use it just yet,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Marissa draws. "I activate the spell card, Chaos End, which will destroy all monsters on the field!" She says, and all the monsters explode. "And now, I'll activate my trap card, Macro Cosmos, this will allow me to summon this monster to the field, Primeal Sun Helios (4600/4600)!"

A creature with wrappings for a body, and a giant orb floating above it appears.

"And now, she'll attack you directly!" Marissa commands, and the monster sends a blast of energy at Wendy.

"Sorry, go trap card, Negate Attack!" Wendy counters.

"Fine, take your turn," Marissa says.

Wendy draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Marissa draws. "I'll activate the spell card Yellow Process Kitolinix!" She says.

"What?" Wendy asks.

"Never mind that, I can sacrifice my Helios to summon Helios Duos Megisto (9400/9400)!"

Helios doubles.

"Now, attack her face down monster!" Marissa commands, and the monster blasts through a Crimson Ninja.

"And your Macro Cosmos is destroyed!" Wendy says, and the card explodes.

"Fine, take your turn," Marissa says.

Wendy draws. _No monsters, and Sashia's effect won't help, this is all I have left, so it will have to work,_ she says. "I activate, Exchange!"

"Fine," Marissa says, and the two duelists meet in the center of the arena, and Marissa shows her hand.

"I'll take that D.D Dynamite," Wendy says, knowing that she had the duel in the bag now.

"And I'll take, this one," Marissa says, taking a spell card.

"I'll place this card face down, and end my turn," Wendy says as she returns to her side of the field.

Marissa draws. "Go, D.D Dynamite!" Wendy says, and a bundle of dynamite appears on the field.

"Go face down card, D.D Raid, this activates when you play a card that would deal me direct damage based on how many cards are removed from the game, so we both take the damage now!" She says, and the dynamite explodes, sending up a cloud of dust.

When the dust settles, both girls are on their backs on the ground, their life points at 0.

"Its a tie!" Renee says in shock.

"So, what do we do?" Wendy asks, and then notices that her Duel Points have gone up to 10, while Marissa's have gone up to 9. "I guess we both get points."

Marissa nods. "It was a pleasure dueling you, Wendy," she says, and walks off.

Suddenly something activates on Wendy's duel disk.

A projection of Victoria Pegasus appears.

_"Congradulations on reaching the finals, duelist, now your points cannot change under any circimstances. Once you are willing to do so, make your way to the middle of the dimension, where the Dark Castle lies, and there you will be able to compete in the finals. You don't have to do this right away, if you are traveling with friends, you might want to wait, good luck in the finals," _the projection says, and shuts off.

_I can't believe it, I'm finally in the finals, now we can take down Doppler, together..._ Wendy thinks.

**00000**

_Power Wall was used by Zane._

_Breaking the Borderline was in my fanfiction "A Divided Heart."_

_The Helios cards where used by Ammnel._

**00000**

_**D.D Raid**_

_**Counter trap.**_

_**Image of a group of thieves raiding houses in the Different Dimension. Activate this card when your opponent uses a card that deals damage based on cards removed from the game, both players take this damage.**_

**00000**

_**Well, Wendy's in the finals, and things are getting interesting.**_

_**Next chapter, its Renee's turn to try to get her ninth Duel Point, and she'll be taking on an opponent with a thing for the elements. Can she overcome the elements? Find out in, "Element Burst."**_


	33. Elemental Burst

_Here we go, chapter 33._

_Also, in this chapter a familiar face from the series will make her apperance._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh._

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_**Well, Wendy's in the finals, and Darren's one duel away from the same, but for now its my turn.**_

_**During the years of his career, my dad took on a lot of tough opponents, not just when he was working for the Orichalcos, but also before that when he competed in tournament duels.**_

_**During his career, he was known for only letting his cards hit the graveyard once, and that was only because of the darkness enhansed by the Orichalcos.**_

_**But he told me about another time when things got pretty close for him, and against one of the most suprising opponents.**_

_**How does this effect me?**_

Well, that's kind of a long story...

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**CHAPTER 33:**

**ELEMENTAL BURST**

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After a day of trying the rides at the virtual park, the 4 friends check into a hotel to get some sleep.

_Ohh, that is the last time I let Darren convince me to eat the last piece of pizza,_ Renee thinks as she walks into her room, running a comb through her blonde hair.

She lies down on the bed, and drifts off to sleep.

**00000**

_Renee's Dream..._

_Huh, this is strange..._ Renee thinks, as she looks around to see that she's seated in a crowd at a Duel Monsters stadium. _This is where I competed for the French nationals._

She looks down at the arena, and notices a man with Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), Guardian Elma (1300/1200), Back Up Guardna(0/2200), and Guardian Grarl (2500/1200) on his side of the field, with Guardian Treasure in play. She can recognize him immediately.

_Dad?_ She thinks in realization.

The man's hairstyle and dress is unmistakable, it is the former Orichalcos duelist Raphael.

His opponent is a much shorter girl with long blonde hair and glasses. On her side of the field is a Diamond Head Dragon (3800/0) and a Shadow Ghoul (2700/1300).

And the girl is in the lead, 2500 to 1100.

"Your bold, Raphael, protecting your monsters like that with your own life points," the girl says, adjusting her glasses. "But your not good enough, your guardians won't last next turn thanks to my monsters, so go ahead and take your turn."

"I'll never give up," Raphael mutters, and draws his two cards. "Sorry Rebecca, but first I'm activating Soul Release, this card will remove from the game your Judgement Blaster, Diamond Sword Revival, Pot of Greed, Stamping Destruction, and Dragon's Gunfire."

_Rebecca? Oh I remember this, dad told me about her once, that must be Rebecca Hawkins, but why am I dreaming about it?_ Renee thinks to herself.

"And I'll equip my Guardna with this card, Celestial Sword-Aitos!" He says, and the sword appears in the demon's hands. "And now, since I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can summon this, Guardian Aitos!"

The fairy dressed in native american clothing appears.

"And now by switching my Celestial Sword to Aitos, I can remove monsters from your graveyard untill I reach a non-monster," Raphael continues, and Rebecca takes out 12 monsters.

Guardian Aitos' attack rises to 18,300.

"What? That's not fair!" Rebecca screams.

"Now Guardian Aitos, destroy her Shadow Ghoul, Searing Blade of Heaven attack!" Raphael commands, and the fairy slashes through the zombie, and Rebecca's life points fall to 0.

"And the winner is, Raphael!" The announcer says, as Rebecca storms out of the arena.

**00000**

Renee snaps awake, and looks around, realizing that she's back in her hotel room. _That was an interesting dream, I wonder what it could mean_, she thinks as there's a knock at her door.

"Come on Renee, we're going to get breakfast," Katie calls in.

"Right, sorry," Renee says, and pulls her clothes on, turning to the closet, where she kept her bag, she takes out a navy blue trench coat, and a pair of sunglasses.

_I almost forgot I brought these along, but they're deffinately better than that school uniform I've been wearing,_ she thinks.

**00000**

"So, you had a dream last night that was sort of a flashback to your father dueling Rebecca Hawkins?" Wendy asks as the 4 friends are eating breakfast. "I wonder what it could mean."

"My dad told me about Rebecca, she was a little on the annoying side, but she was a good duelist," Katie says. "He lost track of her a few years ago, but I think she might have a daughter."

At that moment, a man in a black uniform while carrying a uzi walks in. The 4 friends notice that on his arm is the symbol of the Global Community, the letters GC with a map of the world behind it.

"Its a peacekeeper, but what's he doing here?" Darren whispers.

"Carry on with your meals, people," the peacekeeper says in a slight brittish accent. "I am only here to make sure that there are no rebels in the area."

The Global Community Peacekeepers had one job as far as anyone could tell, quell all thoughts of rebellion among the subjects of the Global Community. They where known to use excessive force in order to meet their needs, and no one liked them.

After about 10 minutes, the 4 friends file out past the Peacekeeper, and back into the Amusement park.

**00000**

As they leave the amusement park, they find themselves on a platform with a huge silver blimp resting and waiting for passengers.

"Where does this blimp go?" Renee asks a passing attendant.

"I think it goes to River City, its free if your a tournament competitor," the attendant replies, before shuffling away.

The 4 friends shrug, and get their passes to board the blimp.

**00000**

Passenger blimps of course went out of style in 1937, when the _Hindenburg _exploded in New Jearsey. Now planes outstripped the once great Zephlins, but it was an experience to ride on a blimp.

Katie looks out at the ground beneath them as the blimp travels on.

_"What's on your mind, Katie?" _Yami asks his young companion.

_"Its just that I don't like all of this," _Katie replies. _"I mean, beating Doppler is one thing, but what if that's not the end? I mean, I keep getting a bad vibe from all this Strongheim buisness."_

_"I know, I feel a great evil coming from him,"_ Yami replies.

"Hey, are you Renee Lords!" A loud shrill and annoying voice calls out, pointing at Renee who turns to look at the source of the voice.

Its a younger girl, she looks to be at least 10 years old, with her blonde hair tied into a ponytail, and wearing a blue jacket with a white tank top, and shorts.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Renee asks, glancing at the girl.

"Your father cheated to beat my mother, and I want revenge!" the girl shouts, and people start turning to look at the group. "I'm Sophia Raigea, and my mother is Rebecca Hawkins!"

"My father never cheated a duel in his life," Renee growls. "So, whatever happened to Rebecca anyway?"

"That's none of your buisness, now duel me!" Sophia says, activating a duel disk on her arm that registers her at 7 Duel Points.

"Fine," Renee says, activating her own Duel Disk. "But don't expect me to go easy on you."

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing, I'll pick as my deckmaster, the Elemental Mistress Doriado!" Sophia says, and a woman with a blue robe, strawberry blonde hair, and a fancy headress appears next to her.

"Very well, I'll pick my Maha Vailo!" Renee says, and the spellcaster appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I wonder what kind of deck she'll use," Darren comments.

"Well, Rebecca used a Judgement Blaster/Shadow Ghoul strategy in her duel against my dad, and a gain and drain/dragon strategy in the Grand Championships, but Sophia might use something completely different," Katie says.

"I'll go first," Sophia says and draws. "And I'll summon this monster in attack mode, one of the six servants of the Elemental Mistress Doriado, Element Dragon (1500/1200 + 500)!" She says, and a serpentine dragon appears. "And this gives him two effects, one, when there's a monster of fire he gains 500 attack points, and when there's a monster of wind, he can attack again after destroying a monster."

"What's the point, you have no other monsters on the field?" Renee says, and then notices the power bonus.

"That's the thing about my deckmaster, she affects the field so it counts as having a monster of fire, earth, wind, and water on the field at all times," Sophia says with grin. "Now I'll place one card face down, and end my turn."

"Alchemy," Katie says simply.

"What?" Darren asks.

"Several ancient cultures practiced Alchemy as sort of a predecessor to science. Depending on what culture, Alchemists usualy searched for either the Elixer of Life, which would give one eternal life, or the ability to turn any metal into gold," Wendy explains. "The only possible success on both counts, was a man named Nicholas Flamel, rumored to be the creator of the sorceror's stone."

"But what's this got to do with Sophia's monsters?" Darren asks.

"Well, a lot of ancient cultures, Alchemists included, believed that the world was made up of 4 basic elements, as opposed to the nearly 120 we now know," Katie says. "Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. These Element monsters get their power from use of those 4 elements, and Doriado is the most usefull of them, since she counts as all 4 of them in addition to light."

Renee draws. "I'll start by activating my Guardian Treasure spell card," she says, discarding her remaining 5 cards, before drawing two. "Now, I'll set one card face down, and summon my Back Up Guardna (0/2200) in defense mode."

The purple demon appears.

"Now take your turn," Renee says.

Sophia draws, and grins. "I'll now play one of the rarest cards I own, but first, I have to discard 3 cards off the top of my deck," she says, and takes 3 cards off of the top of her deck. "So I can activate the spell card, Gift of the Alchemist, this card can only be used when there is a monster of fire, a monster of earth, a monster of wind, and a monster of water all on the field, and then, my Element monsters have the effects of all four of the elements, not just the two specified on their card. So now my Element Dragon can't change ownership, and negates any effects of monsters he destroys, as will any other monster I summon. Speaking of which, I'll summon my Element Valkyrie (1500/1200 + 500)!"

A woman in armor while carrying a sword appears.

"And I'll end my turn with one more face down card."

Renee draws her two cards. _Well, this won't help much, and I've got nothing that can really help me, but I gotta try,_ she thinks. "I'll equip my Guardna with Shooting Star Bow-Ceal!"

A bow and arrow appears in the demon's hands, and his attack points rise to 500.

"And this lets me summon my Guardian Ceal (1700/1600), in attack mode!"

"And using my Guardna's special ability, I can switch my bow to its owner, sure it lowers his attack points to 700, but my deckmaster raises it back to 1300. However, that's not my plan, I'll use Guardian Ceal's special ability, by getting rid of my Shooting Star Bow, I can destroy one of your monsters, so say good bye to your Element Dragon!"

The bow and arrow bursts, and then the dragon explodes.

"Your move," Renee finishes.

Sophia draws. "I'll activate my face down card, Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan, normaly I'd have to have 4 monsters on the field to use this card, but thanks to Doriado..."

"Your all set, we get it," Renee says.

"Now I can either destroy all your monsters, draw 2 cards, destroy all your spell and trap cards, or make you discard two cards," Sophia says, and pauses to think. "And I'll destroy your monsters!"

A samurai appears, and sends a burst of light at Renee's field, and her two monsters vanish.

"Sorry, I activated a trap card..." Renee says. "Its called Guardian Protectorate, I have to discard my entire hand, which is a moot point since my hand is empty, and all monsters on my field are removed from the game until the end of your battle phase."

"So what? All I need to do is summon a monster, and I win!" Sophia says.

"That's the other effect of my trap card, your monster goes into defense mode for this turn," Renee says, and Element Valkyrie kneels in defense mode.

"Fine, you avoided that one, but I can still summon my Element Solider (1500/1200 + 500)!" Sophia says, and a warrior in golden armor appears. "And he'll attack you directly!"

The warrior slashes at Renee, and her life points fall to 2000.

"Now take your turn."

Renee draws her two cards, and her two monsters reappear. "I'll place another card face down, and switch Ceal into defense mode, while activating my Heart of Clear Water on my Guardna, so he can't be destroyed as a result of battle, your move."

Sophia draws. _Come on, where's that monster I put in this deck, oh well, this will do,_ she thinks. "I'll activate my Elemental Greed spell card, I discard a card from my hand, and I can draw cards based on its attribute, so I'll discard my Familiar Possessed-Hitia, a fire monster, and draw 3 cards," she says, and draws 3 more cards. "And I'll place two of them face down, then summon my Element Magician!"

A beautiful woman with long hair appears.

"And I'll have her attack your Guardian Ceal!"

The magician sends a blast of magic at the wolven guardian.

"Go trap card, Guardian Formation, this negates your attack, and allows me to add one guardian weapon to my hand," Renee counters, and takes a card out of her deck.

"Fine, take your turn," Sophia finishes.

Renee draws her two cards. "And now, I'll summon my Grave Protector (0/2000), in defense mode," she says, and a hideous zombie-like monster appears. "So, now any monsters that would be sent to the graveyard, go back to the deck, and I'll equip him with my Rod of Silence-Kay'est to end my turn."

Sophia draws, and glances at Renee. _My three face downs won't help me right now, and I still haven't drawn the monster I need, I'll have to take a gamble,_ she thinks. "I'll have my Valkyrie destroy your Ceal!"

The female warrior slashes through the wolven guardian.

"And now I'll activate a field spell called Elemental Plains!"

Suddenly, the ground around them bursts as its ravaged by a huge earthquake, then volcanoes erupt around them, a huge wave crosses the playing field, and a strong wind blows around them.

"And thanks to this card, all my monsters gain 500 attack points, now take your turn."

Renee closes her eyes, and draws her two cards. _Hey, these are the cards Marie gave me, this is my only chance,_ she thinks. "Alright, I'm activating my face down card, Dissapear, which will remove my Guardian Ceal from the game. And now, I'll equip my Back Up Guardna with Shadowed Veil-Twilight!"

A black veil enshrouds the demon.

"And now, since my graveyard has no monsters in it, I can pay half my life points..." Renee says, and her life points fall to 1000. "And I can summon a monster a friend gave me, the mighty Guardian Twilight (0/0)!"

A woman appears, in basic outline she resembles the Zelda card Marie used against Lumis and Umbra, but there's something different about her. Her skin is a deathly pale color, and a black veil seems to surround her. She's wielding a sword with a narrow blade and a golden hilt

"Your kidding, right? She has no attack points at all!" Sophia laughs.

"I was getting to that, you see, this monster was based on the old Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game, and like in the game, the posessed version of Princess Zelda has 3 effects," Renee says. "But first, I'll activate my face down Spirit Barrier Trap card. So lets get started, Guardian Twilight, attack her Element Valkyrie with Posessed Sword Strike!"

The dark princess slashes through the valkyrie.

"Fine, I win the... what!" Sophia says in shock as the valkyrie is destroyed and Renee's life points are unaffected.

"When Guardian Twilight attacks, the opposing monster is automaticaly destroyed, and you lose life points equal to half of the monster's attack," Renee explains, and Sophia's life points fall to 2850. "Your move."

Sophia draws. _I could attack now, but thanks to her trap card, her life points won't be effected, and her monster will just go back to her deck,_ she thinks. "I'll just pass this turn."

Renee draws her two cards. "I'm going to activate my Guardna's effect, and I'll switch the dark veil to Guardian Twilight," Renee says, and the veil around the dark princess grows. "And now that I've done that, I can use her second effect, by discarding one card from my hand, I can switch the stats of two monsters on the field, and I'll pick her and your Element Valkyrie!"

Guardian Twilight's attack rises to 2500, and Element Valkyrie's lowers to 500.

"Now I'll have her attack your monster with Posessed Sword Strike!"

The dark princess slashes through the valkyrie, and Sophia's life points fall to 600.

"And I can use her last effect now, I sacrifice her, to destroy all monsters on your field, and you lose 1000 life points!"

Sophia's monsters explode, and her life points fall to 0.

"You did well, Renee," Sophia says. "I guess I was wrong about your father," she says, and starts to walk away.

"You never told me what happened to your mother," Renee says.

"She, dissapeared, last year, I just woke up one morning, and all that was left of her was her clothing," Sophia says with a sigh. "I'm dueling so I can find her someday..."

"Sophia, your not alone," Renee says with a sigh. "I lost my mother too in the dissaperances, me and my dad where shocked at it, so I can understand what you're going through," Renee says, placing a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Something tells me that we'll see them again someday."

Sophia smiles, and walks away.

**00000**

_All credit for Doriado's deckmaster ability goes to Cyber Commander._

**00000**

_**Gift of the Alchemist**_

_**Continuous Spell**_

_**Image of an old alchemist giving something to a king. This card can only stay active as long as there is a monster of fire, a monster of water, a monster of earth, and a monster of wind on the field. Discard 3 cards off of the top of your deck. As long as this card is active, all monsters with "Element" in its name that gain effects from monster attributes, get all the effects instead of just the one's listed on the card.**_

_**Guardian Protectorate**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of Guardian Grarl protecting Guardian Elma from a demon. Activate this card when you have at least one monster on the field with guardian in its name that is about to be destroyed by a spell or trap card. Remove all monsters on your field from the game until your next turn.**_

_**Elemental Plains**_

_**Field Spell**_

_**Image of volcanoes, tidal waves, hurricanes, and earthquakes. All monsters with "Element" in its name gains 500 attack points.**_

_**Shadowed Veil-Twilight**_

_**Equip Spell**_

_**Image of a black veil encircling a woman. When this card is equipped to a monster, that monster can avoid an attack once per turn.**_

_**Guardian Twilight**_

_**Dark**_

_**8**_

_**0/0**_

_**Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**The princess of a faraway land, she has been posessed by a great evil. This card can only be summoned when "Shadowed Veil-Twilight" is on the field. When this monster attacks, destroy the opposing monster no matter how much attack points it has, or effect, and deal damage equal to half of the monster's attack in addition to any battle damage. When this monster is equiped with "Shadowed Veil-Twilight," once per turn you can discard a card to switch the attack of two monsters on the field. When this monster damages the opponent's life points, you can sacrifice it to deal 1000 more damage to their life points.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that's another chapter done, sorry it took so long.**_

_**Next chapter, Darren's competing for his spot in the finals against an opponent with a deck of zombies. Can he win against the undead? Find out in, "Call of the Grave."**_


	34. Call of the Grave

_Well, we're approaching the end of the first part of this fanfiction, and here's something for the rest of you to think about._

_In 5 chapters, there will be a few guest stars to test the 6 main carachters of this fanfiction, the only question is who are they?_

_You as the reader will have to think that over while I know the truth._

_Anyway, moving on._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**I've seen a lot of horror movies in my time, and there are a lot of rather bizare ones.**_

_**A common theme that I've seen is zombies, and that can get really weird, like perhaps when Hell is filled up, and the dead have nowhere to go other than back to the plane of the living.**_

_**That was the plot of "Dawn of the Dead" of course.**_

_**Now I'm facing an opponent with a deck filled with zombies.**_

_**And I can't get this line out of my head for some reason:**_

**_"Something my grand-dad used to tell us. You know Mucumba? Voodoo. My grand-dad was a priest in Trinidad. He used to tell us, 'when there's no more room in hell, the dead _****_will_****_ walk the earth.'" _**

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 34:**

**CALL OF THE GRAVE**

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After the blimp lands in the port in River City, the 4 friends head out towards the east, the opposite direction of the way they left last time. And there they find themselves in a huge graveyard, it seems that the graves never end.

"Okay, I hate graveyards," Renee says with a shudder.

A loud moaning sound can be heard from nearby, and a form rises out from behind the graves.

Its a teenaged boy around their age, with short dirty blonde hair, and a look about him that makes him look almost, dead. He's wearing torn blue jeans, and a black t-shirt.

"YAHH, ZOMBIE!" Renee screams.

"Ookay, Renee, your overreacting again," Katie says, trying to calm down her friend as the boy shakes his head.

"Its okay," he says is a drawling voice. "I get that a lot. But perhaps one of you wouldn't mind dueling me right now, its hard to find a duelist around here," he says, showing his Duel Disk, with 6 DP.

"Yeah, I'll duel you," Darren says, activating his duel disk. "What's your name anyway?"

"I'm Morty," Morty says, and closes his eyes as his duel disk activates. "The spirits tell me that your name is Darren Masters, your a duelist from Dommino City Japan, and your here to help your friend combat a great evil believed to be in the virtual world."

"Ookay, anyway, I'll pick Don Zaloog as my deckmaster," Darren says, and the thief king appears next to him, and he takes a card out of his side deck, and shuffles it into his regular deck.

"I'll pick my Yaranzo!" Morty says, and a zombie in a treasure chest appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" They say in unison.

"Maybe this was a bad idea..." Katie says, glancing over at Renee who is curled up in a ball while wimpering. "Oh come on Renee, you've faced weirder monsters."

"I'll go first," Darren says, and draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place this card face down to end my turn."

Morty draws as he looks at his card, he grins. "I'm going to activate this spell card Call of the Mummy, since I have no monsters on the field, I can special summon one zombie from my hand, like this one, Ryu Kokki!" He says, and an ogre covered with skulls appears.

"That's not good," Katie says. "Ryu Kokki's ability destroys any warrior or spellcaster that he does battle with."

"And that's Darren's whole deck..." Wendy says.

"Well, most of it, he does have one monster that doesn't apply, but he'd have to draw it first," Katie says.

"And for my normal summon, I summon my Fear From the Dark (1700/1200), in attack mode!" Morty continues, and a hideous fiend appears. "Now attack his face down monster with fear gaze!"

The zombie blasts at the face down monster, but is knocked back by a balding egyptian man.

"That was my Gravekeeper's Guard, which will return your Ryu Kokki to your hand!" Darren says, and the man blasts the zombie back to Morty's hand. "Is there anything else you want to do?"

"I'll just place this card face down and its your move," Morty says.

Darren draws. "I'll activate my Terraforming spell card, which lets me take a field spell out of my deck," he says, and takes a card out of his deck. "And I'll activate it, my Necrovalley!"

A desert appears around them, and the pyramids and sphinx appear in the distance.

"Now this field will give me two effects, one all my gravekeepers gain 500 attack and defense points," Darren says as the guard's stats goes up to 1500/2400. "And second, graveyards are considered sacred here, so neither of us can play cards that target the graveyard, under most circimstances."

"Fine," Morty says.

"Well, so far so good," Renee says.

"Yeah, but he still has aways to go," Katie says.

"Now I'll place this card face down, and summon my Gravekeeper's Assailant (1500/1500 + 500/500), in attack mode!" Darren continues, and a woman carrying a long dagger, and wearing a black cowl appears. "Now, lets take care of that Fear From the Dark, with Grave Dagger Slash!"

The woman slashes through the fiend, and Morty's life points fall to 3500.

"And I'll end my turn by activating Mystical Space Typhoon on your Call of the Mummy card."

"Fine," Morty says and draws. "I activate my Gracefull Charity spell card," he says, and draws 3 cards, then quickly discards two of them. "And get this, one of the monsters I discarded was my Despair From the Dark, and when he is discarded, he's summoned in attack mode!"

A huge hulking zombie appears with a roar (2800/3000).

"Now attack his Assailant with Nightmare Claws!"

The zombie slashes through the monster, but she remains as Darren's life points fall to 3200.

"I discard my Charm of Shabati, thanks to this card I'll still take damage, but my gravekeeper will survive this turn," he says.

"Fine, your move," Morty finishes.

Darren draws. "I'll switch my assailant to defense mode, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn," he says.

"Does he have anything that would help him right now?" Wendy asks.

"Well, there is one card, but he'd have to draw it first, and he would need a power-up for it, but yes, there is a card," Katie says.

Morty draws. "I'll summon my Regenerating Mummy (1800/1500), in attack mode!" he says, and a mummified zombie appears. "And I'll attack your face down monster with it."

The mummy blasts at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a Mystic Tomato, so Darren summons a second one.

"And since it had to be summoned in attack mode, I'll have my Despair From the Dark destroy your second one!"

The zombie slashes through the tomato, and Darren's life points fall to 1800, but then Chick the Yellow (1000/1000 + 500) appears on the field.

"Take your turn now."

Darren draws, and looks his hand. "Alright, I'm sacrificing my two Gravekeepers to summon my Mystical Knight of Jackal (2700/2000)!" He says, and a giant beast-warrior appears. "And now I'll play my Rush Recklessly spell card, raising his attack points to 3400. Now he'll attack your Despair From the Dark!"

The jackal warrior slashes through the zombie, and Morty's life points fall to 2900.

"Your move," Darren says as his monster's attack returns to normal.

Morty growls, and draws, seeing that his card is the Despair From the Dark. "Okay, that's a little impressive, but for now I'll just set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn with one card face down," he says.

Darren draws, and Morty calls out. "I activate my trap card, Spellbinding Circle, which will stop your Knight from attacking!" He says, and a magical circle appears around the beast-warrior.

"Fine, I'll switch Chick to attack mode, and place a card face down, then have Chick attack your face down monster with Scorpion Smash!" Darren says, and Chick uses his staff to attack the face down mosnter, which is revealed to be a hideous mummy.

"Sorry, but that was my Poison Mummy, so not only do you lose 300 life points from attacking a monster with more attack, you also lose 500 life points from its effect," Morty says, and Darren's life points fall to 1000.

"Fine, your move," Darren says.

Morty draws. "Hmm, yes this will do," he says. "I'll summon my Master Kyonshee (1750/1000)!" He says, and a warrior in purple appears and takes a fighting stance. "And he'll attack your thief!"

The warrior sends a blast at Chick, who then throws up a grappling hook, and swings out of the way.

"What on earth?"

"That was my trap card, its called Great Escape, this handy trap card negates your attack, and prevents you from attacking Chick again this turn," Darren explains.

"Fine," Morty says, glancing at a card in his hand. _I'll use this card next turn,_ he thinks. "Go."

Darren draws. "I'll summon my Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800 + 500/500), in defense mode," he says, and a egyptian with dreadlocks appears, then blasts Morty so his life points fall to 2400. "That was his effect of course, I'll place this card face down to end my turn."

Morty draws. "I'll play my Pot of Greed," he says, and draws 2 cards. "Now I'll activate my own Mystical Space Typhoon, and use it to wipe out your field!" He says, and a huge wind blows away the desert. "And now, I can use this continuous spell card, Closing the Gates of Hell!"

A huge gate appears behind him with words inscribed on it. Katie recognizes the gate from her trip through Hell.

"What's that line from Dawn of the Dead? 'When there's no more room in Hell, the Dead shall walk the earth!'" Morty says with a laugh. "This handy spell card allows me to bring back any zombie that is destroyed as a result of battle after I discard one card from my hand, but this only lasts for the next 3 turns, after that, well, you'll find out for yourself."

_This isn't good, and I hate to see what's going to happen next,_ Darren thinks, and looks his hand over.

"And I think I'll sacrifice my Poison Mummy to summon Pumpking, the King of Ghosts (1800/2000)!" Morty continues, and a huge hideous jack-o-lantern with tentacles and a crown appears. "And now I'll play my Quick Summon spell card, so I can normal summon again, this time I'll summon my Castle of Dark Illusion (920/1930) in defense mode!" He says, and a giant castle appears above them. "And this card comes with an effect, all my zombie monsters gain 200 attack points every turn that its on the field, except for Pumpking, which gains 300 attack instead."

Kyonoshee's attack goes up to 1950, and Pumpking's goes up to 2100.

"And I'll have my Pumpking destroy your knight!"

The zombie sends a blast of energy that destroys the jackal knight, and Darren's life points fall to 900.

"And my Master Kyonshee shall attack Chick!"

The zombie warrior slashes through the thief, and Darren's life points fall even further to 550.

"Okay, now he's in trouble," Katie says. "Unless there's a weakness in that door that is."

"Take your turn," Morty finishes.

Darren draws, and looks at the card. "I'll play my Gracefull Charity card," he says, and draws 3 cards. _Hmm, Rose, Spell Reproduction, and..._ he says, looking at the last card, before discarding two cards. "And now I'll play my Monster Reborn spell card, to bring back a monster I just discarded..."

A monster bursts out of the ground. Its a dragon, that much we can tell, but its a regal golden color with two wings stretching behind him that look to be larger than his entire body, and two curved horns.

"Katie, is that the card you where talking about?" Wendy asks, staring at the dragon.

"Yeah, that's one of the strongest gravekeeper monsters in the game, I'm amazed that he finally got it out," Katie says.

"Meet, the **_Gravekeeper's Protector Dragon_** (2500/2700)!" Darren says and the dragon lets out a roar. "And when he's summoned, I can activate my Necrovalley card from anywhere on my disk, so it comes right back."

The desert sands fall around them.

"And as long as he is on the field, you cannot destroy Necrovalley, which means that your Gate's effect is worthless," Darren says with a smirk.

_Only the first part of it,_ Morty thinks. "Yeah sure, you have a powerfull monster, and I can't bring my monsters back, but this duel is still on."

"Yeah, well I can destroy your monsters, GPD, destroy his Pumpking with Searing Desert Flames attack!" Darren commands, and the dragon sends a blast of fire at the pumpkin, and Morty's life points fall to 1500. "And since Necrovalley is on the field, he can attack all of your monsters!"

"What!" Morty shouts in shock, as the dragon blasts through his other two monsters, and his life points fall to 350.

"Your move," Darren concludes.

"Okay, that was impressive," Morty says as he draws. "But here's the card that will end it all, I activate Time Jump!"

"Time Jump? Oh no, Darren's in trouble," Katie says.

"What do you mean?" Renee asks from her position on the ground.

"Normaly, Morty would have to wait one more turn for the effect of his gate, but Time Jump brings the duel forward 3 turns..." Katie says.

"So I get its last effect right now, it costs me exactly half the cards in my deck..." Morty says, and takes out roughly half the cards in his deck, and places them in the graveyard. "As well as the rest of my hand..." he says, and discards his remaining two cards. "But then, I can summon this monster from the depths of hell itself, the mighty, **_Zombie King_** (3500/3000)!"

The gate slowly opens, and a moaning of thousands of souls are heard from behind them as a figure steps into view.

He looks like a warrior king, decked out in black armor and with a torn cape, but he's rotting, with greying skin, and one eye hanging out of its socket.

"You know, maybe Renee has a point about zombies..." Wendy mutters.

"Now don't you start too," Katie says.

"Now my King, attack with Bloody Sword Slash!" Morty commands, and the zombie slashes through Darren's dragon, and his life points fall to 300. "Your lucky that he only does half the expected damage, but in exchange, we both draw one card," Morty says, and both players draw once. "I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Darren draws. "I'll activate my Vase of Unholy Blight," he says, and takes a card out of his deck, and draws 3 cards. "And now I'll activate my spell card, Cost Down," he says, discarding one card. "And I'll sacrifice my Curse to summon my Crescent Moon Queen (2600/1700), in attack mode!"

The dark warrior queen appears, wielding her two swords.

"And now, I can activate the spell card Megamorph, since I have less life points, my Queen's attack is doubled to 5200," Darren says, and the Queen increases in size. "Now attack his Zombie King, Crescent Moon Slash!"

The queen slashes through the zombie king, and Morty's life points fall to 0.

"Okay, that was impressive, I must say that your the first duelist to ever beat my King," Morty says as the holograms fade away. "Congradulations, and good luck in the finals."

Darren gets the same message Wendy did, and the 4 friends continue on their way.

**00000**

_**Closing the Gates of Hell**_

_**Continuous Spell Card**_

_**Image of a huge gate being closed. As long as this card is active, you can discard a card when a zombie monster is destroyed to bring it back. After 3 turns of this card being activated, you cannot revive monsters, and special summon one "Zombie King" to the field.**_

_**Gravekeeper's Protector Dragon**_

_**Earth**_

_**8**_

_**2500/2700**_

_**Dragon/Effect**_

_**This dragon is the guardian of the Gravekeeper tribe, who comes to their aid in times of crises. When this monster is summoned in any way, activate "Necrovalley" from any place in the playing field. As long as this card is on the field, "Necrovalley" cannot be destroyed by any means. As long as "Necrovalley" is on the field, this monster may attack all monsters on the opponent's field.**_

_**Zombie King**_

_**Dark**_

_**10**_

_**3500/3000**_

_**Zombie/Effect**_

_**The ruler of the dead in Hell, no one has seen his face and lived to tell the tale. This monster can only be special summoned by the effects of "Closing the Gates of Hell." When this monster damages the opponent's life points, only half the damage is taken, and both players draw one card. Any damage that is done to the user through battle with this card is halved. This monster cannot be destroyed as long as "Closing the Gates of Hell" is in play.**_

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_**Yaranzo-Zombie Trap: Discard one card to activate a trap card in your graveyard.**_

**00000**

_**Finally, that's done.**_

_**Did you think that was the last of zombie monsters you'd see in this fanfiction? No way, since we're going to give our heroes a break next chapter.**_

_**Marie's now facing a Spirit Eliminator, a dangerous vampire with a desire for revenge on the mortal world, and there's a secret about Marie that has yet to be shown, which we will learn. Who will win the duel? What is Marie's secret? Find out when we take a journey through, "Infernalvania."**_


	35. Infernalvania

_Well, here comes chapter 35, and things are getting interesting._

_Let me tell you something first, a couple of years back I was a member of a Yu-Gi-Oh RPG, and I was running out of good ideas for characters, heck, I really didn't have any._

_Then an idea came to me, for a character that was different than anything else on the site, in more ways than one._

_So the character Katelyn Adams was born. The daughter of Rogue and Remy LeBeau, who had lost her memory when she was younger, and gained more power than any of most of her fellow X-Men. She was the first in Rogue's line to pick up a duel disk, becoming the first official Queen of Exodia._

_But she's certainly not the last, when I created an RPG that would be a Yu-Gi-Oh second generation site, I decided to create her daughter, at first I didn't give her that much thought, but now..._

_Well, lets just say that the carachter Marie Huebner has changed a lot since then._

_And now, we'll see just how she's changed._

_Also, we have a guest star from another show, who? You'll just have to find out._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or X-Men Evolution._

**00000**

_**Mutation, it is the key to the evolution of every species on this planet.**_

_**However, a lot of people don't understand those of us who have evolved even more than they have. People like me, the mutants are misunderstood.**_

_**But we're not the only people in history that have been persecuted. Christians, Jews, Wiccans, Blacks, you name it, whoever is different from people that are in power have been persecuted because of it.**_

_**But I'm getting double, not only because I'm a mutant, but because I'm a Christian, unlike the Global Community, which is controled by a man I believe to be pure evil.**_

_**But that's a different story.**_

_**Right now, my opponent is a creature of the night that should've been lost to folklore in my opinion.**_

_**  
God, please help me against this being of evil...**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 35:**

**INFERNALVANIA**

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In this part of the Duelist Dimension, it is trapped in eternal night. Withered trees are all around, and very few duelists can be found in this desolate landscape.

Walking down a path, with no light to guide her other than the full moon, is Marie Huebner, still alone as she looks straight ahead.

_I have never seen a night as dark as this,_ Marie thinks, shaking her head. _No light can shine through these shadows, but what could they hide?_

A wolf howled in the distance, or at least Marie hoped it was a wolf.

_"Come to me, my child," _A voice on the wind whispers in the goth's ear.

"What on earth..." Marie says, looking around. "Who said that?"

_"Just keep walking, and you will find out," _the voice says.

_Its a sure sign that your going crazy when you start listening to voices in your head,_ Marie thinks, as she keeps walking.

Directly in front of her is a huge castle, crafted out of black obsidian, it looks like something out of an old movie.

_Welcome to castle Dracula..._ Marie thinks to herself as she walks into the castle.

**00000**

After walking through several empty hallways, Marie finds herself in a room with stone walls, and torches in every corner.

Resting in front of her is a black coffin, with what at first glance might look like a cross, but the problem is that it is facing upside-down, and Marie didn't like that.

_The Reversed Cross, a symbol of the Devil and Antichrist, _Marie thinks, and tenses up as the coffin lid slides off, and a figure emerges from it.

It is a man with pale green hair, and deathly white skin, wearing a purple outfit and a long cape, he hisses at Marie, showing fangs.

"Finally, my prey has arrived," he says in a Romanian accent.

"Hey, I ain't gonna be no one's prey," Marie says, readying her duel disk just in case. "And aren't you Vampire Lord, a Duel Monster?"

"Well, if that is how its going to be, then you'll have to duel me to survive," the vampire says with a nod as he activates a black duel disk with a bone-like spine for a design. "But since I'm a Spirit Eliminator, the rules are different, much different..."

"What do you... huh?" Marie starts, but then realizes that she's glowing a golden color.

Over the course of her life, Marie had shape-shifted on several occasions, into both animals and humans, but that never gave her any physical pain. This on the other hand was different, she could feel every inch of her body aching as she transformed this time, her bones rearranging and growing, her skin hardening. When it all ends, she sees that Vampire Lord is staring in shock at his opponent.

"It can't be..." he hisses.

"What? What happned to me?" Marie says, and then we get a good look at her transformed self, and its obvious what it is. A huge golden dragon, that looks more like a gryphon in my opinion, but that's still a shocker.

"You're Ka, its, the Winged Dragon of Ra!" Vampire Lord says in shock.

**00000**

"MILLIONS OF DUELISTS IN THE WORLD, AND I HAD TO MAKE AN ENEMY OUT OF THE ONE WHO'S SOUL HOUSES THE WINGED DRAGON OF RA!" Doppler screams as she punches the wall in fury of what she's seeing.

"I think your overreacting, Doppler, a soul that powerful will greatly benefit the master's cause once one of us strips it of her body," a voice from one of the screens says.

"Dartz, what do you want?" Doppler demands of a man on the screen who is shrouded in shadows.

"I just happened to be on the line, Doppler. Your minions are worthless compared to the power of the Winged Dragon, but if she survives your plots, my servants will deal with her," the man, now confirmed as the master of the Orichalcos Dartz.

"I can't believe that Strongheim even hired that girl as his Represenative for Mutants, I don't even know what's so special about a girl who wears too much make-up," Doppler mutters.

"I really have no idea, but I don't want to find out, just watch the duel, Doppler," Dartz says, and the screen shuts off.

**00000**

"This changes nothing, we're still dueling, and I'm going first," Vampire Lord says, and draws. "I'll start with one card face down, and summon my Zombie Werewolf (1200/1000), in attack mode!"

A grey-furred wolfman with red eyes appears, and holds his head back in a howl.

"Your move."

Marie draws, and looks her hand over. _Not a bad opening hand, and I've got part of a combo right here, but its not easy to bring out,_ she thinks. "I'll start with two face down cards, and then I'll summon my Man with Wdjat (1500/1600), in attack mode!"

A man in red robes, with the eye of horus appears.

"And I'm going to use his effect now, to take a look at your face down card," Marie says, and the face down card is revealed to be a trap called Dubious Red Moon. "Thought so, so I'll activate my spell card, Nobleman of Crossout, so your face down card is removed from the game, as is any other copies you have," she coninues, and two cards slip out of Vampire Lord's deck. "Now Man With Wdjat, attack his Zombie Werewolf!"

The spellcaster blasts away the werewolf, and Vampire Lord's life points fall to 7800, but he laughs.

"Foolish girl, don't you know that by destroying my Zombie Werewolf, I can summon another one who will be even stronger?" Vampire Lord says, and the werewolf appears again, this time with 1700 attack points. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's all," Marie says, unphased by the monster.

Vampire Lord draws. "I'll summon my Vampire Lady (1550/1500), in attack mode!" He says, and a female vampire with green hair appears. "Now Vampire Lady, attack her man with Wdjat, Vampire Bite attack!"

The female vampire bites into the spellcaster's neck, and he explodes as Marie's life points fall to 7950.

"And thanks to her effect, you have to discard a monster from your deck, but thanks to my deckmaster ability, you have to discard two."

Marie searches through her deck, and shows two cards, Exodia Necross and Swarm, the Rapid Evolutionary.

"But you activated my spell card, Revenge Sacrifice, which will first destroy your Vampire Lady..." Marie says, and the vampire is grabbed by two demonic hands. "And then I can summon a monster that is level 5 or 6, such as my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

A metalic serpentine dragon appears as Vampire Lady vanishes.

"Fine, one card face down, your move," Vampire Lord says.

Marie draws. "I'll play my spell card, Reasoning. You declare a monster level, and I draw until I reach a monster, if that monster is the level you said, its sent to the graveyard, but if its not, I get to summon it to the field."

"Fine, I'll pick level 4," Vampire Lord says with a growl.

Marie picks up four cards, before grinning at her fifth. "Too bad, because the monster I've drawn is this one, Hungarian Horntail, the Fierce Dragon (3400/1800)!"

A huge black scaled dragon with spines running down its back, and a tail covered with spines appears with a roar.

"Well, that is impressive," Vampire Lord says.

"And thanks to my trap card Disgracefull Charity, I get back the cards I discarded," Marie says, and takes 4 cards out of her graveyard, and adds them to her hand. "Two of which I'll place face down, and have my Cyber Dragon attack your Zombie Werewolf, Strident Blaze Attack!"

The machine dragon sends a blast of energy that wipes out the werewolf, and Vampire Lord's life points fall to 7400, and the werewolf is replaced by another one, this one with 2200 attack points.

"Now Horntail, destroy his last werewolf with Searing Flame attack!"

The dragon sends a blast of fire at the werewolf, but a cylinder appears.

"That would be my Magic Cylinder trap, it absorbs your attack, and sends it back at your life points," Vampire Lord says, and the fire hits Marie, who cringes as her life points fall to 4400. "Hmm, though you are an impressive duelist, and not to mention pretty good looking, maybe I'll just make you my bride instead of taking your body like I was going to do..."

"Okay you've got a lot of explaining to do," Marie says, interrupting the vampire. "Why the heck would you want to take over my body?"

"Part of my deal with Doppler, I beat you in a duel, and I get to go to the real world in your body," Vampire Lord says. "You think mutants have it bad? Vampires have existed longer than that, and we've faced persecution before, its not a very well known subject, but there was purges of vampires during the middle ages and into the Renaisance. At least no one's tried to shove a stake into your heart, or thrown holy water on you, at least they haven't almost wiped out the mutants!"

"You don't think they haven't tried?" Marie screams. "No matter how hard we try, no matter what, the humans don't trust us. I can understand where your coming from, but your going about it wrong, you can't just go and try to eradicate the human race for their past mistakes. They will learn, there is a chance that we can make it out of this alive, but if you won't listen, go ahead, take your turn."

"Oh I will," Vampire Lord says, and draws. "And I think I'll activate a field spell, its called Infernalvania!"

A dark mist falls upon the room, and they're suddenly transported outside to where a giant castle appears behind Vampire Lord.

"But we'll get to that in a second, first I'll summon my Vampire Bat (800/800 + 200)!"

A hideous bat appears.

_Oh crap, that can only mean one thing,_ Marie thinks, looking around at the field.

"And now, I'll activate the effect of my field spell, I discard one card from my hand," he says, showing a Vampire Lord. "And I destroy all monsters on the field, which would normaly be a problem for me, because it would destroy my bat, but by discarding another one from my deck, my bat stays."

The bat breaks into smaller bats, and then reforms, while Marie's two dragons explode.

"And now, I'll play my Book of Life spell card, which will revive my Vampire Lord (2000/1500 + 200)," Vampire Lord says, and a copy of himself appears. "And in return, your Hungarian Horntail is destroyed."

Marie growls as she takes the card out of her graveyard.

"Now my two monsters will attack you directly!" Vampire Lord says, and the two monsters charge at Marie.

"Sorry, but I'm activating my deckmaster's special ability, I discard two cards, and your monsters lose half their attack points," Marie says, and places two cards in her graveyard as the attacks hit, and her life points fall to 2800.

"Fine, discard two spell cards now," Vampire Lord says.

Marie takes out a Pot of Avarice and Contract With Exodia.

"Go ahead, take your turn," Vampire Lord says.

Marie closes her eyes as her hand inches towards her deck. _What if I can't do it, this whole duel could be riding on this next card, and it might not even help me, what do I do..._

**00000**

Deep in the recesses of Marie's mind, the gothic duelist is curled up into a ball, trying not to cry as she fights the duel of her life.

"Who am I kidding, best duelist in the UNAS, second best in the world, third best counting Katie, and I'm getting my butt handed to me by a horror movie reject, maybe it was all luck that let me win those duels, maybe I don't really have that much skill..." she sobs to herself.

"Now, now, chere, Remy's granddaughter shouldn't be talking about herself like that, non?" A voice with a cajun accent says from nearby, and a hand reaches out that lifts Marie up.

"Huh?" Marie says, and then gets a good look at the man.

He's not too much older than she is (_probably an imprent from her grandmother, not from my own powers_, she thought), wearing a dark brown trench coat. He had short brown hair, a slight goatee, and stares at Marie with eyes that are red on black.

"From what Remy's heard, you've become quite a good duelist, chere," Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, Marie's grandfather says. "Just because you've taken a few hits like that, doesn't mean that you should give up, that's not the Marie I've grown to admire."

"Your right, but, I don't know, its just that I'm not really sure about myself, I mean..." Marie says.

"Marie, Remy might just be a memory stored up in that pretty little head of yours, but he knows things," Remy says. "Do you think that your the first mutant in your family to face tough challenges?"

_That's right, my grandmother was the one who released Apockalypse from his prison, but she was also the one who sealed him back away, of course he got out again later, but my mom stoped him that time,_ she thinks remembering back through the Apockalypse incidents. _And my mom did play a part in the Orichalcos disaster _(I've got that planned for a different fanfiction), _sure she was brainwashed for a time, but she came through in the end._

"You're right," Marie says with a slight smile, her confidence now boosted. "Thanks..." she says, and opens her eyes in the real world as she draws.

**00000**

Back in the real world, only a few seconds have passed.

Marie looks at the card she's drawn, and grins. "I activate my Monster Reborn spell card to bring back my Cyber Dragon!" she says, and the metalic dragon appears again. "And now, I'll activate my Power Bond spell card, and I'll use it to fuse together two of my Cyber Dragons, to summon my Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100 + 2800)!"

A twin-headed machine dragon appears with a roar.

"And here's where it ends, I'll attack your Vampire Bat, double strident blast!"

The machine dragon blasts at the bats, Vampire Lord's life points fall to 2800, as the bat reforms.

"No matter, as soon as you end your turn the negative effect of Power Bond will bring your life points to 0," Vampire Lord says with a laugh.

"Oh really, well I guess you didn't know that Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice," Marie says.

"What!" Vampire Lord says in shock.

"Now Cyber Twin Dragon, finish him off, use Double Strident Blast!" Marie commands, and the machine dragon blasts through the last bat, and Vampire Lord's life points fall to 0.

"I can't believe it, you win..." Vampire Lord says as Marie returns to normal, the vampire turns to ashes.

_Well, that was an interesting way to get into the finals,_ Marie thinks, as her duel disk registers her at 10 DP.

Suddenly a card comes floating down to her, and she catches it in mid-air, and looks at it.

_Now this card I could use,_ she thinks, and walks out of the room.

**00000**

_Infernalvania, Zombie Werewolf, Dubious Red Moon, and Vampire Bat were all used by Camulla throughout the 3 episodes that she showed up._

_Hungarian Horntail, the Fierce Dragon is a card created by Cyber Commander, he gets full credit._

**00000**

_**Vampire Lord-Gift of Dracul: When the discarding effect of "Vampire Lord" or "Vampire Lady" is activated, the opponent must discard two cards of the declaired type.**_

_**Winged Dragon of Ra-Power of Sol: Discard two cards from your hand to cut the attack of all the opponent's monsters by half. Life Sacrifice: Pay life points to add the amount paid to a monster on your field.**_

**00000**

_**Hmm, that didn't take as long as I though it would, and you got a look at a later villain.**_

_**Anyway, next up Katie's dueling to find her spot in the finals. Her opponent has a deck filled with monsters from the ancient past. Can the spellcasters beat the dinosaurs this time? Find out in, "Hunting Instinct."**_


	36. Hunting Instinct

_Okay, this is going by really quickly, so we're getting closer and closer to the finals, oh well._

_Time to move on._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, period, and I also don't own Jurassic Park, the rights to that shall forever belong to Michael Crichton._

**00000**

_**You know, in history I don't think there's ever been a group of extinct animals that are more popular than dinosaurs.**_

_**I mean they're everywhere, movies, books, you name it. Even in Duel Monsters they exist.**_

_**Though to be honest I can't think of very many duelists who have successfully used dinosaurs that well, only Rex Raptor and Tyranno Hassleberry to be honest.**_

_**What's this got to do with anything?**_

_**Well, my current opponent is a duelist who also uses dinosaurs, and uses them well.**_

_**I can only hope that I can win this duel.**_

_**But I'm finding it hard to get the scene from Jurassic Park where Gennaro gets eaten by a T-Rex while on the toilet out of my head.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 36:**

**HUNTING INSTINCT**

**0000000000**

**00000**

"Okay, is it just me or have we stumbled into Jurassic Park?" Katie asks, as they look around at a complex with a road in the front, and a large building resembling the visitor's center from the movie Jurassic Park.

"Yeah, that's interesting, very interesting," Renee says.

"Didn't that loudmouthed Lawyer get..." Darren starts.

"Yeah, so you better watch out," Renee says, giving Darren a playful shove.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny," Darren says.

The doors to the Visitor's Center open up. A young man walks out, wearing a tan fedora, sunglasses, and wearing a white outfit with a duel disk on his arm.

"Oh, more duelists," he says, giving a slight bow. "I am Tobias Radcliffe, I run the Virtual Jurassic Park here, and if any of you are willing, I have a challenge for one of you."

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Katie says.

About 5 minutes she gets her answer.

Two land cruisers where brought to the front. While Renee, Darren, and Wendy sit in the motorized car, Katie is sitting on the roof with her duel disk activated, while Tobias is sitting on top of the second one.

"Well, that answered my question," Katie says.

"Good luck, Katie, your really gonna need it," Wendy says with the windows rolled down.

"Thanks for the confidence, Wendy," Katie says, and takes a card out of her deck. "I'll pick my Dark Magician Girl as my deckmaster."

The female spellcaster appears next to her.

"_Hi Katie, just who's idea was this?"_ DMG asks.

_"Not mine, I'll tell you that,"_ Katie replies.

"Okay, I'll pick my Urbay," Tobias says, and a dark brown raptor monster appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" They say in unison, and the cars start moving along the track in the middle of the road.

"I'll go first," Katie says, and draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Tobias draws, and glances over his cards. "I'll start with a field spell, Jurassic World!"

The fences around them vanish.

"And I'll place one card face down, and then special summon my Gilasaurus (1400/400 + 300/300), in attack mode!"

A raptor-like monster appears.

"Normaly, you'd be able to revive a monster thanks to his effect, but since you have none, you can't. So now I'll play Big Evolution Pill, sacrificing Gilasaurus, so for the next 3 turns, I can summon dinosaurs without a tribute, and here's the first, my Ultimate Tyranno (3000/2200 + 300/300)!"

A huge black dinosaur appears.

"And I'll place this card face down, and have my Ultimate Tyranno destroy your face down monster!"

The tyrannosaurus bites through a Mystical Elf.

"Your move."

As he finishes his turn, they pass through the gates of Jurassic Park.

Katie draws. "I'll play Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "And I'll play Cost Down, I'll discard a card..." she says, and discards a card. "So I can summon this guy without a tribute, a gift from a friend of ours, the Cybernetic Magician (2400/1000)!"

A metalic spellcaster appears.

"Wow, Marie got us some pretty good cards, didn't she?" Darren asks as they watch the duel on a screen in the car.

"Yeah, I always though Guardian Twilight was just a rumor, a card put out by a duel monsters company as sort of a promotional thing," Renee says, looking at the card. "I guess I was wrong, and I'm holding it right now..."

"And I'll discard a card for his effect, which will lower your monster's attack points to 2000," Katie says. "Now Cybernetic Magician, destroy his monster, Cyber Magic Attack!"

The Ultimate Tyranno lets out a roar as the magician sends a burst of energy which wipes it out, and lowers Tobias' life points to 3600.

"One card face down, your turn," Katie finishes. _What's the actual chances of him drawing another high level dinosaur..._

Tobias draws. "Well, that's a pretty good monster, but my deck has 4 dinosaurs that are the best of the best, case in point, I summon my Black Tyranno (2600/1800 + 300/300)!" He says, and a giant black T-Rex appears with a roar.

_I've been wrong before..._ Katie thinks.

"Now Black Tyranno, show that magician why your called the King of Tyrant Lizards, attack with Jurassic Smash!" Tobias commands, and the dinosaur smashes through the mechanical magician as Katie's life points fall to 3500. "Your move."

Katie draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says.

"Do you think Katie can win?" Darren asks.

"Well, it really depends a lot on that card she just played, I can think of one card that could help her, but she just made a mistake that a lot of duelists make against Black Tyranno," Wendy says.

Tobias draws. "I'll summon another one of my most powerful monsters, the Super Conductor Tyranno (3300/1400 + 300/300)!" He says, and a huge metalic tyrannosaurus appears with a roar. "But first, I play my Giant Trunade card, so all m/t cards go to the hand, and I'll replay mine. Now since you have no monsters in attack mode, my Black Tyranno can attack you directly!"

The dinosaur bites at Katie, and she falls over as her life points drop to 600.

"Now Super Conductor Tyranno, destroy her face down monster with mechanized Dino Stomp!"

The tyrannosaurus lets out a raor, and bashes through a Cyber Jar.

"Sorry, but now all monsters are destroyed and we have to pick up 5 cards, and summon any monsters we draw," Katie says, and picks up 5 cards. "I'll just set one monster, and summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in defense mode," she says, and a dark robed spellcaster appears.

"I'll set two monsters, and summon Kabazaulus (1700/1500 + 300/300) in attack mode," he says, and a dinosaur shaped like a hippopotamus appears. _Now I could attack, but that would be too risky,_ he thinks. "I'll just place one card face down, and the effect of my Big Evolutionary Pill is over."

Katie draws. "I activate my Exchange spell card," she says, and holograms of each player's hand appears in front of their respective opponent's. "I'll take, this Soul Release Spell card."

"And I guess I'll just take your Pot of Greed," Tobias says, and the cards switch as Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows bronze.

"And I think I'll activate the card I took, and remove from play your 4 dinosaurs, and your Big Evolution Pill," Katie says, and the 5 cards appear, and then vanish into thin air, the magician's staff glows silver. "And I'll play my Card of Sanctity, so we both draw until we have 6 cards."

"That helped me more than it helped you," Tobias says as he draws 5 cards, and Katie only draws 2.

"Sure, you drew more cards, but I can now sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician to summon my Dark Magician!" Katie says, and the magician appears. "And I'll first place two cards face down, and my Dark Magician will attack with Dark Magic Attack!"

The magician blasts through the Kabasauls, and Tobias' life points fall to 3100.

"Your move."

Tobias draws, and laughs. "You think you hurt me by doing that? Wrong, first I'll play the Pot of Greed card I got from you," he says, and draws 2 cards. "And now I'll place two cards face down, and activate my trap card, Survival Instinct, which will allow me to remove my Kabasauls from the graveyard, and gain 400 life points," he says, and his life points rise to 3500. "And while those 3 monsters where strong, you haven't gotten through my best monster, I summon, Tyranno Infinity (?/0 + 300/300)!"

A huge dinosaur with horns growing out of its head appears.

"What's the point? That thing has no attack and defense!" Katie says with a laugh, and then notices something. "Wait, that attack point meter, its going up..."

"Tyranno Infinity gains 1000 attack points for every dinosaur that I have removed from the game," Tobias says. "And that's 5, so he gets 5000 attack points!"

"Oh no, if he attacks, Katie will lose!" Renee says in shock.

"Now Tyranno Infinity, attack!" Tobias commands, and the dinosaur charges at the Dark Magician.

"Go trap card, Negate Attack!" Katie counters, and a vortex appears that cancels out the attack.

"Fine, your move," Tobias says.

Katie draws, and sighs. "One card face down, and I'll switch Dark Magician to defense mode," she says.

Tobias draws. "I'll play my Greedy Extinction, I have to remove 3 dinosaurs in my hand from the game..." he says, and takes 3 cards out of his hand, and places them in his pocket. "And we both get to draw 2 cards."

Both players draw 2 cards.

"And since I removed three more monsters from the game, my Tyranno has 8000 attack points," Tobias says. "Now destroy her Dark Magician!"

The dinosaur bites through the dark spellcaster, and tears him to shreds.

"Your lucky he was in defense mode, take your turn," Tobias says.

Katie draws. _Okay, this might help,_ she thinks. "I activate, Swords of Revealing Light!"

Swords rain down around Tobias and his monsters, his two face downs are revealed to be Black Stego and Hyper Hammerhead.

"And now, I'll set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Katie finishes.

Tobias draws. "One card face down, and that's it," he says.

Katie draws. _Okay, its a start,_ she thinks. "I'll pass.

Tobias draws. "One more card face down, your move," he says.

Katie draws. _Not what I need,_ she thinks. "Go."

Tobias draws again, and shrugs. "Go," he says, and the swords fade away.

Katie draws. "Now, I'll play my Harpie's Feather Duster!" she says, and Tobias' face down cards are all blown away. "And then, Lightning Vortex!" She says, and discards a card, and the 3 monster are destroyed in a burst of lightning. "And Monster Reborn, guess who's back!"

The Dark Magician appears.

"And to finish you off, I'll move my Deckmaster to the field," Katie says, and Dark Magician Girl steps onto the field. "Now my Magicians, finish him off!"

The two spellcasters blast Tobias, and his life points fall to 0.

Katie's duel points go up to 10, and she gets the message about the finals.

The cars stop, and Katie and Tobias climb down.

"Just stay in these cars, and you'll get out of here in about 30 minutes," Tobias tells them.

They wave to the dinosaur duelist, as the land rover continues on the way.

**00000**

_**Greedy Extinction**_

_**Spell**_

_**Image of a dinosaur-like Pot of Greed.Discard 3 dinosaur from your hand and remove them from the game, and both players draw 2 cards.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that could've gone better, but oh well, I'll work better next time.**_

_**Finally, we're just one duel away from getting to the next part of the fanfiction.**_

_**Its Renee's turn to compete for a spot in the finals, as she takes on a deck filled with machines from the past. Can she overcome the power of a Medival Shadow Deck? Find out in, "Ancient Gear Castle."**_


	37. Ancient Gear Castle

_Wow, I never realy expected this fanfiction to last this long._

_Well, there's one more chapter before the guest stars come in, and maybe they'll make a small apperance at the end of this chapter, but their official entering into the fanfiction will span over the next 5 chapters._

_Who are these 5 carachters from the past who I have kept hidden? You'll find out at the end of this chapter._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Well here I am, competing for my spot in the finals like my friends have already done.**_

_**From the beginning of the game, one of the most common themes seem to be machine monsters. At first it was mostly just normal machines without any particular tribe or group, and the duelist that was most successful with those was the notorious Bandit Keith. Of course, when I say successful, I mean a big cheater**_

_**15 years later, there where some machine monsters that were made into tribes. The Machiners, Ancient Gear, Cyber Dragons, and of course Vehicroids. And the duelists where a little better, like Zane and Syrus Truesdale, most argue that Crowler was just a joke when it came to dueling.**_

_**However, now a duelist I'm facing uses the same type of deck that Vellian Crowler used 15 years ago, and I know one thing for certain...**_

_**He's deffinately no joke.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 37:**

**ANCIENT GEAR CASTLE**

**0000000000**

**00000**

As they exit the virtual Jurassic Park, the 4 friends find themselves in a barren wasteland in the center of the Duelist Dimension. The Duel Points on Katie's, Wendy's, and Darren's start to glow as they look before them.

A huge black castle is jutting out of the landscape, with turrets made of a silvery substance, and a drawbridge that is brought up.

The 4 friends approach the castle, but the bridge doesn't lower.

"I wonder, do we all have to have 10 Duel points to get in? Katie wonders.

"Probably," Wendy says. "But how are we going to get one more duel point for Renee..."

As if to answer her question, a young man steps out from nearby. He's got short brown hair, and is wearing a black muscle shirt, and blue jeans that are torn in several places.

His Duel Disk registers him at 9.

"Finally, duelists, you know I've heard that there's only one spot in the finals left," he says in a brooklyn accent. "The name's Shawn, third best duelist in New York State, and I'm challenging..." he says, looking them over, noticing that Renee is the only one without 9 Duel Points. "Well, I guess I have no other choice, the one with the freaky sunglasses!"

"Fine," Renee growls, and activates her duel disk. "I'll pick Guardian Elma as my deckmaster."

The fairy guardian appears next to her.

"And I'll pick, my Heavy Mech Support Platform!" Shawn says, and a machine with a platform on its back appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"This could be trouble for Renee," Katie says. "If that deckmaster is any clue, Shawn probably runs a machine deck, and while they lack subtlety, they make up for that in raw power."

"Ladies first," Renee says, and draws. "And I'll start with a spell card, Guardian Treasure, so I discard 5 cards, and draw 2 more, and I can draw 2 cards every turn after this," she says, and deposits her remaining hand into her graveyard, and draws two cards. "One monster in defense mode, and a card face down to end my turn."

Shawn draws, and grins. "First, I'm activating a spell card, Ancient Gear Castle!" He says, and a giant rocky castle with cannons apppears. "But we'll get to that in a minute, I first summon my Ancient Gear Engineer (1500/1500 + 550)!"

An ancient-looking machine monster with a drill on one arm appears, and the Ancient Gear Castle glows. At the same time, a number of machine parts fly into the ancient robot.

_Ancient Gear monsters? Oh boy..._ Renee thinks.

"Now my Engineer, attack her face down monster with Ancient Drill attack!" Shawn commands, and the machine charges at the face down monster, its drill spinning. "And when it attacks, one of your spell or trap cards are automaticaly destroyed, like your face down!"

The face down card is revealed to be a Rod of the Mind's eye.

"Just a bluff, now my Engineer, continue with your attack!"

The engineer hits the monster, and is thrown back as Shawn's life points fall to 3850.

"Sorry, that was my Back Up Guardna (0/2200)," Renee says, and the demon appears. "Is that all for you?"

"I'll place this card face down to end my turn," Shawn says.

Renee draws two cards. _Okay, this is good, now to get this started,_ she thinks. "I'll equip my Guardna with the Gravity Axe-Grarl!" she says, and an axe appears in the demon's hands. "Now I can special summon my Guardian Grarl (2500/1200), since he's the last card in my hand!"

The muscular dinosaur guardian appears.

"Fine, but look at my castle!" Shawn says, and two torches are burning in the castle.

"What does that mean?" Renee asks.

"Nothing right now, continue with your move," Shawn says.

"Alright, I'll use my Guardna's special ability to switch the Axe to Grarl, and then have him attack your monster!" Renee commands, and the dinosaur guardian smashes through the Ancient Gear Engineer, and Shawn's life points fall to 2800. "Go."

Shawn draws. "First, I'll use the effect of my Castle, I can destroy it, in order to summon an Ancient Gear Monster from my hand as long as the number of sacrifices it would require is equal to the amount of counters on my castle, like this one, one of the strongest monsters in my deck, **_Ancient Gear Golem _**(3000/3000 + 250)!" He says, and a huge ancient machine appears, with a helmet you might see on a spartan. "One card face down, now Ancient Gear Golem, destroy her Guardian Grarl with Mechanical Melee!"

The machine punches through the dinosaur guardian, and Renee's life points fall to 3750.

"Your move," Shawn finishes.

Renee draws her two cards. "I'll equip my Guardna with my Heart of Clear Water, so you can't destroy it as a result of battle, and then I'll place this card face down, and end my turn," she finishes.

Shawn draws. "I'll raise my Golem's attack even more with the Ancient Gear Tank, so his attack is now 3850!" He says, and a tank appears, and the machine climbs on it. "Now attack her Guardna with Mechanized Melee!"

"Sorry, go trap card, Mirror Force!" Renee counters, but her face down card doesn't flip up, ant the attack goes through, lowering Renee's life points to 2200. "What? Hold on, my trap didn't go off!"

"All my Ancient Gear monsters prevent you from activating face down cards during the battle phase, I'll end my turn by summoning my second Heavy Mech Support Platform, and equiping it to my Golem," Shawn says, and a mechanical platform appears beneath the old machine's feet, and its attack points raise to 4350.

_Okay, that might be trouble, unless I can draw the right card, I'm doomed,_ Renee thinks, and draws two cards. "Perfect, I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Shawn draws. "I'll play my Ancient Gear Workshop card, which will return my Engineer to my hand," he says, and takes a card out of his graveyard. "And I'll now summon it to the field, welcome back Ancient Gear Engineer (1500/1500 + 250)!" He says, and the old machine with a drill appears.

"Hold on, you may be able to stop my traps in the battle phase, but I can activate this one right now, go Spirit Barrier, now I'll take no damage from your attack as long as I have a monster on the field!" Renee says, and a dome appears around her.

"Fine I'll place this card face down, and have my Engineer attack your face down monster!" Shawn says, and the machine drills through an Arsenal Summoner.

"Thanks, now I can add a Guardian monster to my hand," Renee says, and takes a card out of her deck.

"Fine, take your turn," Shawn says.

Renee draws 2 cards. _Alright, just what I needed to take down that monstrocity! _She thinks. "I'll play the equip card, Shadowed Veil-Twilight!" She says, and a veil covers Guardna. "And now, I'll play the spell card Pot of Chastity, I shuffle all the monsters in my graveyard into my deck, and then draw 2 cards," Renee says, and shuffles the monsters in her graveyard back into her deck before drawing another two cards. "And now, I'll play the spell card, Guardian Summoning, so I can special summon one Guardian monster from my hand since my graveyard has no monsters, so welcome to the field, Guardian Twilight (0/0)!"

The dark princess guardian appears, wielding a sword.

"And the veil shall switch to Twilight. Now attack his Golem with twilight sword slash!" Renee commands, and the fallen princess slashes through the ancient monster, and the support platform explodes. "Sure, your platform took the fall, but my second Heart of Clear Water card will protect Guardian Twilight on your turn as well, so take your turn."

Shawn draws. "I play Pot of Greed," he says, and draws 2 cards. "I'll place one card face down, and end my turn."

Renee draws two cards, and thinks for a moment. _Its risky, but if I can get rid of that Golem, I'm home free,_ she thinks. "Twilight, destroy his Golem with Twilight Sword Slash!"

The princess slashes through the golem, which finaly explodes as Shawn's life points fall to 975.

"Fine, but two things now happen, first, you lose 600 life points thanks to my tank!" Shawn says, and an explosion raveges Renee's side, and her life points fall to 1600. "And then, my face down card Revenge Sacrifice activates, destroying your Guardian, and allowing me to summon my Ancient Gear Beast!"

A dog-like machine appears as Guardian Twilight explodes.

"Fine, one card face down, your move," Renee says, looking at the last card in her hand. _I'll save this for later._

Shawn draws. "I'll activate my trap card, Ultimate Offerings, and then I'll play my Card of Sanctity!" He says, and they both draw until they have 6 cards. "And I'll summon my Yellow Gadget!" He says, and a yellow machine appears. "This lets me add a Green Gadget to my hand, which I'll summon with Ultimate Offerings!" He says, and a green machine appears as his life points drop to 475. "And I'll play my Emergency Provisions to get rid of my face down card and get 1000 life points!" He continues, and his life points rise to 1475 as a mouth devours a face down Stronghold the Moving Fortress.

"Are you done yet?" Renee says with a yawn.

"No, I play Ancient Gear Explosion, sacrificing my Beast to deal you 1000 points of damage!" Shawn says, and the Ancient Gear Beast explodes, droping Renee's life points to 600. "And I'll use my Ultimate Offerings one last time, sacrificing my two gadgets to summon the Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon (3000/2000)!"

A huge mechanical dragon appears with a roar.

"And I'll end my turn there since I can't do anything else, but keep in mind, my dragon has two effects since I sacrificed two gadgets for him, but you can worry about that later."

Renee draws her two, a little nervous, but then smiles. "I'll equip Guardna with this card, Celestial Sword-Aitos!"

A sword falls from the heavens, and the demon grabs it.

"And now, I'll play Soul Release, to remove the two monsters I have in my graveyard, and play another Soul Release to remove the 5 spell and trap cards in your graveyard, and then use my last one to remove your last two from the game," she says, and the 9 cards vanish. "Now, I'll summon this monster, Guardian Aitos (2500/2000)!"

The beautiful female guardian in Native American clothing appears.

"And now, I'll switch the sword to Aitos, and use her effect, to remove all the monsters in your graveyard from the game, and adding their attack to her's!" Renee commands, and 5 monsters appear as spirits and Aitos' attack rises to 10,900. "Now, attack his dragon with Celestial Sword attack!"

The fairy slashes through the dragon, which explodes, and Shawn's life points fall to 0.

"Woah, that was impressive," Shawn pants as his DP falls to 8, and Renee's rises to 10.

"ATTENTION! THE 8 FINALISTS HAVE BEEN DECIDED, ALL OTHER DUELISTS WILL NOW BE EJECTED FROM THE DUELIST DIMENSION! WE HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD TIME!" A voice echoes around them, and then Shawn vanishes.

At the same time, the drawbridge to the castle lowers.

"Alright, time to confront Doppler," Katie says, and the 4 friends walk into the castle.

**00000**

They find themselves in an entryway, in front of them are 5 doors, each with a number on the front.

Also waiting for them is Ariel and Marie.

"About time you guys showed up," Marie says. "We were almost afraid you wouldn't make it."

"Hey, why are you still here?" Darren demands. "If your in the finals, shouldn't you be farther into the castle?"

"They're still here because you still have one final test before you," a deep, buisness-like voice says from around them.

"After all, Mistress Doppler wouldn't be sporting if she just let you come right to the finals, I calculate your chances of making it through our tests to be exactly 1," a second, more obnoxious voice says.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Ariel demands.

"Why certainly, Miss. Kaiba," a third voice says.

Suddenly, 5 bursts of light appears before them, and 5 figures emerge. The first is a balding, fat, old man, walking with a cane and wearing a suit (okay, they're all wearing suits). The second is a little taller, fatter with a moustache. The third is skinny, wearing glasses, and having an almost buisness-like look. The third has a fiendish grin, and with a slightly pointed haircut. The last is the tallest, with tanned skin slightly balding, and with a goatee.

All 5 are staring at them with evil grins.

"You... my dad told me about you, the Big 5!" Ariel says.

"Who?" Darren, Renee, and Ariel ask.

"The Big 5, they used to be the Board of Directors for Kaiba Corp.," Katie says, and Ariel nods. "Gansley, Crump, Johnson, Nezbitt, and Lechtor."

"My mom is still angry at you guys for what you did to Tristan..." Ariel growls. "And not to mention my dad. So, what are you losers doing here now? You should be dead."

"Lets just say that Doppler gave us a special pass," Nezbitt says.

"Now, if you want to proceed with the tournament, one of you will have to pass through each of these doors and face us in a duel, then you will make your way to the next challenge," Lechtor says in a texan accent, and the 5 buisnessmen dissapear.

"Okay, I guess we have to split up now," Katie says, and heads through the first door.

Renee shrugs, and takes door number two.

Marie pauses, then takes door number three.

Darren takes door number four.

"Well, I guess we'll go together, cousin," Ariel says, and walks through door number five, and Renee follows.

**00000**

_**Pot of Chastity**_

_**Spell card**_

_**Image of a pot of greed designed like a nun. Shuffle all monsters in your graveyard back into your deck, and draw 2 cards.**_

_**Guardian Summoning**_

_**Quick-Play Spell**_

_**Image of Guardian Aitos appearing out of a goblet. When your graveyard is empty, you can special summon a Guardian Monster from your hand as long as its weapon is on the field.**_

**00000**

_**That's right, the Big 5 are back, again.**_

_**I really don't know why I'm doing this, but what the heck.**_

_**Next chapter, Katie takes on the first member of the Big 5, the buisnessman and founder Gansley's aqua strategy. Can she defeat him the way her father did? Find out in, "Disturbance Strategy."**_


	38. Soul of Purity and Light

_Sorry about this, the Big 5 thing was a bad idea, so I'm scrapping that._

_Before the finals begin, we have one more saga to get through._

_After all, where's the fun in a little challenge?_

_Begin, Elemental Masters Saga._

_Disclaimer: Only own the characters and plot. I do not, under any circumstances, own the Left Behind series._

**000**

_**A lot of words could be used to describe me, Goth is among them, but I don't really fit any of the Goth steryotypes, I'm not suicidal, I can be fairly sociable when I want to be, and other various things.**_

_**The only reason I'm like this is because of my powers, even if people don't know I'm a mutant, they usually avoid me because of my dress sense.**_

_**The only people that don't seem to mind are Katie and her friends, and maybe that's a good thing.**_

_**However, now I'm facing a duelist who also doesn't fit a stereotype.**_

_**The one that says that werewolves are creatures of darkness.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 38:**

**SOUL OF PURITY AND LIGHT**

**0000000000**

**00000**

_The tower is upright,_ a familiar looking man with long bluish-purple hair, wearing a white and blue blazer thinks, staring at a tarot card in his hand. _A collapse of one's hopes and dreams is inevitable._

"Sartorious!" The familiar voice of Doppler says, coming down the stairs into the room, Sartorious places the card down. "My targets are approaching the domain of the Elements, do you know who will duel first?"

"I can tell you, but I would be weary, the cards will show the future, but I cannot be sure of who will emerge victorious in any of the duels, not even yours against Miss. Motou," Sartorious says, and Doppler nods, the former leader of the Society of Light draws a tarot card, and places it on the table before flipping it over. "The Hierophant, in reverse. Misleading or dubious advice, poor council, slander and propaganda. Beware of first impressions. Distortion of truth and a bad time for signing agreements."

"Who does it represent?" Doppler asks.

"Marie Huebner will be the first duelist," Sartorious says. "But Sol must be weary of her, she is a tough duelist to beat."

"Whatever," Doppler says, and leaves the way she came.

**000**

At that moment, Marie is walking down a hallway, brushing her white bangs out of her face, her hand running across a strange mark on her forhead of a cross.

She remembered what happened very easily, in recent years in America, the president had turned out to be the beast, long prophesized in the book of revelation, she was approached by a man who introduced himself as Jacob Williamson, she recognized him from the magazine_ Global Community Weekly_, and from the web magazine _The Truth_, that her mother had read on occasion.

Jacob told her that God had given her a special job in the coming end of the world, at first she didn't know what to think of the man, and then she saw his mark, it was then that she realized that she must follow the will of god, before it was too late. That very night she became a Tribulation Saint, a member of the opposition to the Antichrist, Joseph Strongheim, who she had actually met with on two occasions after that, and it creeped her out, seeing the devil in a man's form.

_"Your people have long suffered, Marie, do you mind if I call you Marie?"_ the Potentate of the Global Community had asked her, and she gave him a polite nod. _"I called you here because I want to offer you the position as the official liaison of the Global Community to the Mutants."_

_"M-me sir?" _She asks. _"But I'm only 16. I have school and..."_

_"And why not? I know what you want, you want for your people to be understood and respected by all, not just by each other, and I am the one who can make that happen,"_ Strongheim tells her, taking her hand in his, he brushes against a patch of her exposed skin for the briefest moment, Marie gasps as she gets a few flashes of the Antichrist's memories.

She looks into the eyes of the most powerful man on the planet, and cringes, Strongheim's eyes have become sockets, and his face seems to melt for a moment.

_And the Antichrist will inhabit the temple of God, and declare himself God,_ Marie thinks, snapping back to present day as she reaches a door, she brushes her hair back to cover up the mark of God, and reads the writing on the door.

_"When time the end time is near,_

_Bring forth the light of truth,_

_And eliminate the beast within the man."_

_Curious,_ Marie thinks, and presses on the door, and it opens.

Inside is a beautiful garden with a silver bridge going onto an island in the center where a throne sits with a man seated.

He is handsome, with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes with a short beard. He is wearing long flowing robes, and is barefoot.

Marie looks nervously at his forhead, the mark of the beast, 666, was yet to be required, but she wasn't taking any chances, after all, she didn't even know if this man was a believer. She saw nothing, not a single mark.

"Marie Huenber, is it not? A lovely name for a lovely girl," the man says. "I am Sol, the first of the Elemental Masters, and its Light Master."

"Whatever, what do you want?" Marie snaps.

"Such anger from a Tribulation Saint," Sol says. "You may leave if you win a duel against me, and gain the Sun Key," he says, taking a key out of his robes, the edge of it is shaped like a sun. "But this will be a Shadow Game, of my own creation, if I win, then you will live with me forever."

"Why?" Marie demands.

"I am a lonely man, and its little wonder, when I was a child, I was attacked by a werewolf," Sol says, causing Marie to recoil. "There is only one way I can truly enjoy what I am, I must find a mate, and so far, I have had little luck, so Doppler made an agreement with me, if I was to defeat you in a Shadow Game, you will become a werewolf like me, and be my mate."

"Not interested," Marie says, but then she looks down, seeing that she's shackled to the island, and she activates her duel disk. "I'm guessing that you're not giving me a choice."

"Oh, you have a chance, if you win the duel, you can leave with my key as a human, and I will be sent to the Shadow Realm, trapped as a wolf forever," Sol says, activating a golden duel disk, with a symbol of a sun on it. "As you lose life points, you will begin to transform, but I assure you, you will maintain your human mind as long as you have life points."

"Fine, time to pick our deckmasters," Marie says, and looks through her deck, and takes out a card. "I'll pick, Exodia Necross!"

The huge black Exodia appears next to her.

"I'll pick, Shining Angel!" Sol says, and a fairy appears next to him. "Ladies first."

Marie draws, and looks over her hand. _This could work,_ she thinks. "I'll place one card face down, and use my deckmaster's special ability, and discard two cards from my hand..." she says, and takes out a Right Arm of Exodia and Swarm the Rapid Evolutionary, and places them in her graveyard. "Now, I can add one of 5 specific monsters to my hand, of course I can only do it once per turn," she says, and takes a card out of her deck, and adds it to her hand, looking at it, its the Head of Exodia. "Now I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Sol draws. "Give it up, you'll soon be mine. I summon my Ojama Sorcerer (1200/200), in attack mode!" He says, and a short ugly white beast monster wearing wizard robes appears. "Now, I can discard 3 cards from my hand, to special summon 3 specific monsters from my deck, please welcome, the Ojama brothers!"

First, a yellow monster with two eyes perched on stalks on top of his head appears.

Then a tubby black monster appears.

And finally, a green monster with one eye and a long tongue appears.

"Ojama Yellow, Black, and Green!"

_I get it, this guy is an Ojama duelist, those little buggers annoy me, what was Pegasus drinking when he made those cards? _Marie thinks with a shake of her head.

"Also, thanks to the effect of my deckmaster, any light beasts gain 300 attack points!" He says, and the Ojama's attack goes up to 300.

"Heh, so this is the girl the new boss wants," Yellow says with a chuckle.

"If you ask me, our bosses always have weird taste in women," Black says.

"Yeah, at least the last one was attractive," Green says, getting an angry look from Marie.

"Is that all you have," Marie says.

"No, I have this card, Ojama Delta Hurricane!" Sol says, and Marie's face down monster and trap card are blown away. "This destroys all your cards."

"Fine, but you destroyed my Witch of the Black Forest, so I can add a monster to my hand," Marie says, and takes a card out of her deck, and puts it in her hand.

"And now, I'll have my monsters attack you directly!" Sol commands, and all 4 Ojama monsters attack Marie, who's life points fall down to 1900.

She groans and her gloves and shoes break open, every pore of her skin is covered with fur, and claws are elongating from where her nails had once been. Her nose and mouth form together and elongate into a snout.

"Hey, those shoes cost me $100!" Marie shouts, her voice more of a growl than anything. "And this fur looks bad on me!"

"Don't worry, if you win, everything will be returned to normal, including your clothing, however if you lose, it will no longer matter to you," Sol says with a laugh, and Marie realizes he's right. "One card face down, your move, love."

"Don't call me that," Marie says drawing. "Because this duel isn't over yet, and I have no intention of becoming your little toy," she says, and looks over her hand. "Now since you have monsters and I don't, I'll special summon my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and the serpentine machine dragon appears. "Now, I summon my A Man With Wdjat (1500/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a spellcaster with a single eye appears. "Sol, you can try to take away my humanity, my life, even my loved one's, but one thing you can never do, is take away my respect for the cards. You may have taken the lead with your underhanded tactics, but I have something you don't, I have the utmost respect for the cards in my deck, and that is why you're going to lose this duel. I'll use my Wdjat's special ability, and look at your face down card!"

The slight image of a Mirror Force appears.

"Well, that's not going to help you much, since I don't plan on attacking this turn, I'll just pass," Marie says.

Sol draws. "I'll place one more card face down, and set a monster in defense mode, and switch my Ojamas to defense mode to end my turn," he says, and his monsters kneel in defense mode.

Marie draws.

"Go trap card, Ojama Trio!" Sol says, and three monsters identical to his Ojama brothers appear on Marie's side of the field.

"Fine," Marie says, and looks over her hand. "I'm gonna get rid of them anyway, I activate my spell card, Shadow of the Beast, this card lets me sacrifice all beast or beast warriors on the field, including tokens, and draw one card for each," she says, and the three Ojamas vanish, she gasps as her life points fall to 1000, and she changes more. She's become more muscular, and her teeth elongate to form fangs. When she tries to speak, all she lets out is a growl.

"Heh, I guess that's it for your speaking, at least you can still play your cards," Sol says.

Marie growls at him, and draws 3 cards. She places one of them face down, and gives a growl to say that she ends her turn.

Sol draws. "I activate the other effect of my Ojama Sorcerer, you lose 100 life points for every Ojama monster I have on the field!" He says, and Marie groans as her life points fall to 600.

The seat of her pants breaks a little, and a tail comes out.

"Your transformation is all but complete, all that is left is your human mind, but that won't last long," Sol says. "Now, I play Polymerization, and I'll fuse together my Ojama brothers to summon the Ojama King (0/3000 + 300), in defense mode!"

A huge white Ojama monster with a crown appears.

"Now, you lose use of your three available monster spaces!" Sol says, and a stamp appears on Marie's three open monster spaces. "Your move, love."

Marie growls, and draws with a wolfish grin. She then activates a spell card, and shows the other two Cyber Dragons in her hand.

"Power Bond?" Sol says in shock as the three monsters fuse together to form a massive three-headed metalic dragon, the Cyber End Dragon (4000/3400 + 4000)!

Marie motions towards the Ojama King, and the Cyber End dragon nods, and sends a massive blast, wiping out the King and the rest of Sol's life points. Marie sighs as her body and clothes return to normal.

"Nooooo!" Sol says, and his clothing rips as he transforms into a wolf, his words falter off into a long mournful howl as he gets sucked into a black vortex.

The vortex fades away, leaving the Sun Key in Sol's place.

"Well, that was weird," Marie says, picking up the key and walking through a door on the other end of the room.

**000**

_**Ojama Sorcerer**_

_**Light**_

_**Spellcaster/Effect**_

_**3**_

_**1200/200**_

_**This sorcerer is a close ally of the Ojama brothers. By discarding 3 cards from your hand, special summon one "Ojama Yellow," "Ojama Black," and "Ojama Green" from your deck to the field. Once per duel, deal damage equal to 100 times the number of monsters with "Ojama" in their name on the field to the opponent's life points.**_

_**Shadows of the Beast**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a dark figure rising up behind Nekogal #1. When this card is activated, sacrifice all Beast or Beast Warrior monsters on your field to draw one card for each card you sacrificed.**_

**000**

_**Shining Angel: Beast Blessing-Power up all beast or beast warrior monsters on your field by 300 attack points.**_

_**Exodia Necross: Forbidden Power-Discard two cards from your hand to add any piece of Exodia to your hand from your deck.**_

**000**

_**Well, the first of the Elemental Masters has fallen, and it was pretty close, even for Marie.**_

_**Next up, its Wendy's turn to duel an Elemental Master, and she takes on the Elemental Master of the Earth, in "Rock Bombardment!"**_

_**Don't miss it.**_


	39. Rock Bombardment

_Well, here's chapter 44, enjoy._

_Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, unfortunately._

**00000**

_**I've watched some videos of the old duels that Katie's dad had.**_

_**One monster that sticks out in my mind other than the Dark Magician or the Egyptian God cards was a rock monster that he used from time-to-time.**_

_**After all, the thing is stronger than a Blue-Eyes, and extremely hard to summon.**_

_**Now that I'm facing a duelist with those monsters in her deck with no one to support me, or at least no one to support me physically...**_

_**Well, I gotta be careful.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 39:**

**ROCK BOMBARDMENT**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Sartorious picks a card off the top of the tarot deck, and looks at it.

_Ahh, the Temperence, this card represents Wendy Wheeler, the samurai shall duel next,_ he thinks, placing the card next to the Hierophant. _I would never tell Doppler, but I may know the result of her duel with young Miss Motou._

He picks up a face down card, and mumbles the words "Doppler Vs. Katie Motou," and flips it over; it's the Chariot, in reverse.

_When the Chariot is in reverse, it implies loss or failure, but for who, only time will tell,_ he thinks, and places the card next to the Tower.

**00000**

Wendy walks down a hallway, looking at her deck intently.

_I've made it this far,_ she thinks to herself. _And my deck has helped, to say the least, but this tournament is getting weirder and weirder, and I'm starting to wonder if I can keep winning._

She reaches a door similar to the one Marie found, with the following words inscribed on it:

_"Born of the Earth is the one of stone,_

_Show her mercy and victory shall slip from your fingers,_

_The stone must break for your safe passage."_

Wendy presses on the door, and it opens.

Inside is a rock quarry that looks like it had the stones that formed Stonehenge. Sitting in a meditative position in what appears to be the center stone is a woman with steel-gray hair, and wearing an outfit similar to that of a woman from Victorian England. She looks at Wendy with cold blue eyes, and gives a small smirk.

"Wendy Wheeler, I presume," she says in a British accent. "You may call me Vanessa, at one time I was the head of research and development for Industrial Illusions, an intellectual if you will, but then Doppler offered me a better job as the Elemental Master of Earth."

"You do realize that working for that demon is selling your soul, right?" Wendy says.

"Its well worth the risk, in exchange for eternal youth," Vanessa says with a laugh. "Everyone grows old eventually, Wendy, even you will someday, despite your beautiful looks, become old and ragged, most people would willingly sell their soul for the chance to live forever in the beauty of youth, so let me explain how this will work.

"As this shadow game progresses, each time one of us loses life points, she will age slightly. When the game is over, the loser shall turn to nothing but dust, and if I should win, I will absorb all your youth, which will give me enough power to live forever!"

"Okay, one, you're crazy, and two, how can you create a shadow game? You don't have a..." Wendy starts.

"Millennium Item like your friends Katie or Marie?" Vanessa says with a chuckle, and raises her duel disk, it is gray, and designed to look like rock. "This duel disk is all I need. Doppler infused it with the power of the Shadow Realm, and I can create a shadow game whenever I want. So let this shadow game begin. Present your deckmaster!"

Wendy looks over the cards in her deck, and shrugs. "My deckmaster will be Shen Lung the Celestial Herald!" She says, and a light shines down above the quarry, and the mighty dragon descends next to Wendy.

"And I'll pick, my Labyrinth Wall!" Vanessa says, and suddenly a huge maze appears between the two duelists. "This deckmaster works like the original effect of the monster used by the Paradox brothers, so this duel is now a Labyrinth duel!"

_Crap, this could be bad, I hope she doesn't have Gate Guardian, then again, that's a dark monster, she probably uses the earth types,_ Wendy thinks. "I'll go first," she says, and draws. "I'll start by summoning my Shudinja Sorceress (1900/900), in attack mode!" She says, and an oriental sorceress appears. "I'll end my turn with one card face down."

Vanessa draws. _That's one part of my strategy, thankfully, neither duelist can move a monster into the maze in the first turn,_ she thinks, and takes a card out of her hand. "I summon Avatar of the Pot (1400/1200), in defense mode," she says, and a genie appears, coming out of what appears to be the pot of Greed. "And I'll add to the defenses of my monster with this field spell, Chorus of Sanctuary!"

Clouds and a cherub appear above them. Avatar's defense goes up to 1700.

"Now, all monsters in defense mode gain 500 defense points!" Vanessa says with a laugh. "And I'll end my turn there."

Wendy draws. _Last Resort, I never thought I'd draw this card, but its kind of risky,_ she thinks. "I'll place one card face down, and move my sorceress 4 spaces into the maze," she says, and the Shudinja Sorceress advances four spaces into the winding maze. "And I'll also summon my Usagi Warrior (1500/1200), in attack mode!" She says, and the hare carrying a sword appears. "And I'll also move him 4 spaces in," she says, and the hare moves to the spot next to the Sorceress. "And that'll be it for me."

"I activate my Dust Tornado trap card, which will destroy the card you just set!" Vanessa says, and Wendy's face down card is blown away. Vanessa draws. "I'm activating the special ability of my Avatar, by discarding Pot of Greed from my hand..." she says, showing a card as Pot of Greed. "And I can draw 3 cards instead of two," she says, and does so. "Now, I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700), in attack mode!"

A gray warrior carrying a sword appears.

_Oh, so that's her game,_ Wendy thinks. _She's a Magnet Warrior duelist, this could be difficult._

"And that's it for me, your move Wheeler," Vanessa says.

Wendy draws. "I activate my spell card Quick Summon, now I can normal summon any monster in my hand without a sacrifice, and I'll pick my Yammoto the Noble Samurai!" She says, and the golden-armored samurai appears. "And I'll move him 5 spaces into the maze," she says, and Yammoto moves 5 spaces, placing him right in front of her other two warriors. "And that'll be it for me."

Vanessa draws. _Its not one of the monsters I need for my ultimate combo, but it will do anyway,_ she thinks. "I summon my Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus (1800/1500)!" she says, and an orange warrior appears on the field. "And that'll do it for me."

_She has yet to move any of her monsters into the maze, she must have a plan,_ Wendy thinks as she draws. "I'll pass this turn."

Vanessa draws. "I activate my spell card Greedy Sacrifice, so I'll get rid of my Avatar of the Pot, and draw 4 more cards," she says, and the monster dissapears, and Vanessa draws 4 more cards. "And I'll now summon my Magnet Warrior Sigma Minus!"

A green, blue, and yellow monster carrying a silver club appears.

"And now, I sacrifice them to bring out this, Super Conductive Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus (2700/2000) (phew, what a mouthful), in attack mode!" She says, and a huge yellow and maroon rock warrior appears on the field. "And while its true that my monster is too big to move into the maze, the secondary ability of my deckmaster lets him attack a monster that is up to seven spaces away. I'll then activate Infinite Cards so we have no limits to how many cards we have in our hands, your move, Wheeler."

_Currently, this duel is at a stand-off, Yammoto is still about 8 spaces away from being in range of her monster, but she already has Alpha on the field, and she's probably got the other two monsters waiting in her deck,_ Wendy thinks, and draws. _Not what I need, but I can use it anyway,_ she thinks. "I'll set a monster in defense mode."

The face down monster appears, and then vanishes and re-appears somewhere in the maze.

"Thanks to my deckmaster, face down monsters can only be flipped up when a monster lands on them," Vanessa says, and Wendy nods.

"Your move," she says.

Vanessa draws. "I summon my Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600)!" She says, and a yellow magnet warrior appears. "Your move."

_She's two thirds of the way there, I'll have to be careful,_ Wendy thinks, and draws. "Alright, I'll summon my Flame Swordsmistress (1600/1500), in attack mode!" she says, and a female version of the Flame Swordsman appears swinging a sword and Yammoto's attack goes up to 2500. "Her ability gives all my other warriors an additional 300 attack points, and that'll do it for me."

Vanessa draws, and pauses. _I could use this card now, and summon my best monster, but should I risk it?_ she thinks, and looks over her hand. "Alright, time for me to win, I summon, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, in attack mode!" She says, and a pink magnet warrior appears.

_Oh no, she was able to summon all three of the magnet warriors!_ Wendy thinks in alarm.

"And now for the combo that will win me this duel, and your youth, I merge together my three monsters to bring forth the mighty, _**Valkyrion the Magna Warrior **_(3500/3850)!" she says, and the three monsters separate to form a huge rock warrior who swings a sword.

**00000**

Somewhere else in the castle, Katie grips her side a little.

_I dunno why, but I get the sudden feeling that Wendy's in trouble,_ she thinks, looking forward. _But I can't do anything about it now, I have to continue on._

She continues on down the hallway, and a dark figure watches from the shadows.

_Its been too long, Pharoh, you may have made it through the first round of the tournament, but when you face the Elemental Master of Darkness, you won't stand a chance,_ he thinks, looking at a plaque in his hand, on it is a card, and 4 more spaces. _Capturing Marie's soul was a simple task, these shadow games will decrease their strength, and I'll be able to capture even the samurai with ease, and then my bait will be set._

Something golden around his neck glows, and a golden dreamcather-like object appears from beneath his shirt.

The Millennium Ring...

**00000**

"Now, I'll sacrifice Valkyrion, to bring back the 3 Magnet warriors!" Vanessa says, and the monster splits into seperate pieces.

"Huh? Why did you do that?" Wendy wonders, and then something occurs to her. _Oh yeah, that one guy in the Monster Island tournament used that move._

"Now, I'll sacrifice these three Magnet Warriors, to bring out a second Valkyrion!" Vanessa says, and the monsters fuse again to form another Valkyrion. "And now, I'll activate my Monster Reborn spell card, to revive my first Valkyrion!" she says, and the first monster appears.

_Two Valkyrions at once? I'm starting to see why this woman is one of Doppler's elite duelists,_ Wendy thinks, looking at the two monsters with uncertainty.

"And since I can't do anything else, I'll end my turn there," Vanessa says.

Wendy draws. _Perfect, this will do just fine,_ she thinks. "And now, I'll activate my spell card, Graceful Charity," she says, and draws three cards, then discards two. "And I'll chain with my face down card, Disgraceful Charity, which will return the cards I discarded right back to my hand," she says, and takes the two cards back out of her graveyard. _I can use my deckmaster ability now, but it will require perfect timing, lets hope this works,_ she thinks. "And I'll move Yammoto 6 spaces into the maze!"

The samurai moves forward 6 spaces, and stops right on top of Wendy's face down card, which flips up to reveal a...

"MAN EATER BUG?" Vanessa says in shock.

"That's right, and now I'll use its effect to destroy your second Valkyrion!" Wendy says, and the giant bug devours the rock warrior. _I think I can buy me some time for now,_ she thinks. "I'll end my turn with one card face down."

_Heh, doesn't she realize that she's put her Yammoto and her Bug right in striking distance of my two monsters? She must not have been thinking that through, unless, she has a strategy,_ Vanessa thinks. "Alright, Valkyrion attack her Man Eater Bug!"

The warrior charges at the bug, and destroys it, dropping Wendy's life points to 850. Wendy suddenly feels weaker as something begins to drain out of her body, and she grows older.

_I guess she was being serious, this is terrible, I can barely move because of my own armor,_ she thinks, and slowly removes the green samurai armor she wore, revealing a martial arts _gi _beneath it.

"You'll soon be a feeble old woman, just like I was, and then, when your life points fall to 0, you will turn to dust, and I will live forever!" Vanessa says. "And since your face down card was obviously nothing more than a helpless bluff, I'll attack your Yammoto with my Super Conductive Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus!" she commands, and the monster sends two blasts at Yammoto.

"Activate trap card, Book of Tao!" Wendy counters, and a book with Chinese letters appears above the field. "This doubles Yammoto's attack for the rest of the turn!" she says, and the Samurai's attack goes up to 5000

"No, and its too late to call back my attack!" Vanessa says in shock as Yammoto jumps up, and counter attacks, Vanessa's life points fall to 1700, and Vanessa grows older as well, but not as old as Wendy. "You'll pay for that, take your turn."

Wendy draws. "This duel is over, go Lightning Vortex!" Wendy says, and discards a card as lightning rains down on Vanessa's side of the field, and whips out her Valkyrion. "Now, since Yammoto is 5 spaces away from the exit, he can move into position to attack you!"

"No, this can't be happening!" Vanessa says in shock.

"Oh but it can, now Yammoto, move 5 spaces forward, and out of the maze!" Wendy commands, and Yammoto moves forward 5 spaces, and right in front of the Elemental Master of Earth.

_No, I was so close, one more turn and I would've won!_ Vanessa thinks.

"Now Yammoto, show her the light!" Wendy commands, and Yammoto slashes at Vanessa, who lets out a scream as her life points fall to 0. She ages right before Wendy's eyes, and soon nothing is left of her but dust, her clothing, duel disk, and deck. Wendy bends over to pick up the Stone Key, and glances at her opponent's deck.

Wendy picks up the next card on Vanessa's deck.

_Polymerization, if she had used this card, she would've gotten rid of Yammoto by fusing together her three Magnet warriors, but I beat her first,_ she thinks, and then turns around, drawing her katana, but only to fall to the ground, out cold.

From the shadows steps a man with spiky white hair and pale skin, wearing a black trench coat covering a blue and white striped shirt.

Around his neck rests the Millennium Ring.

_Such an easy task,_ he thinks, prodding the fallen Samurai with his foot. _How the mighty samurai fails to the power of the Shadow Realm, and soon the Pharoh will as well._

His laughter carries over the quarry.

**00000**

_The Magnet Warriors other than Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Valkyrion where used by Bastion against Taniya._

_Disgracefull Charity was used by Yugi in the Battle City finals._

_The deckmaster ability of the Labyrinth Wall is based off of the rules of the labyrinth duel used by the Paradox brothers._

**00000**

_**Greedy Sacrifice**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of the Goblin of Greed sucking a soul of a monster into a Pot of Greed. To use this card, sacrifice one monster on your field with 5 stars or less, and draw one card for every level of the monster sacrificed.**_

**00000**

_**Shen Lung the Celestial Herald-(I forgot to put this in, but you'll learn it later).**_

**00000**

_**Well, two of the Elemental masters are defeated, but something unexpected has happened, Bakura is back. What is he up to? Find out in a few chapters.**_

_**In the meantime, next chapter is Darren's turn to duel one of the Elemental Masters, this time it's the Elemental Master of Fire. Can Darren succeed? Find out in, "Invasion of Flames."**_


	40. Invasion of Flames

_Last chapter, the proverbial bomb was dropped as an infamous villain made his return._

_Now, I wish I could tell you that this fanfiction will get better, it is quite unfortunate that it will not, as the trek through the Castle of Darkness continues._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, yada, yada, yada, WHERE'S MY COOKIE?_

**0000**

_**Fire has always been the friend and enemy of mankind.**_

_**It can cook food and give warmth, but at the same time, it will burn crops and destroy homes. Wounds created by fire take a long time to heal, and even in the famous X-Files series, the legendary Fox Mulder was frightened by the very thought of an inferno.**_

_**Now my current opponent dosen't fear fire, as a matter of fact he seems to thrive on it.**_

_**If Marie and Wendy could beat his companions, I sure as heck can beat him.**_

_**Or at least I hope I can.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 40:**

**INVASION OF FLAMES**

**0000000000**

**00000**

_Ahh, the Fool,_ Sartorious thinks, drawing a card off of his Tarot deck. _And who could this represent, but Darren, the only duelist in history to band together the Dark Scorpions and Gravekeepers._

He looks at a screen, showing Darren walking down a hallway.

_This will be fun to watch,_ Sartorious thinks.

**000**

Like his friends, Darren reaches a door at the end of the Hallway with an inscription:

_"I was forged of the fires of passion,_

_Immortality is my namesake, but not my choice,_

_Douse the flames to pass thy test."_

Darren pushes against the door, and it opens up.

Inside is a huge cavern with a pool of lava in front of Darren.

_No one here,_ he thinks, and then the lava begins to bubble, and a figure begins to emerge.

He has tanned, almost dark, skin, with piercing coal black eyes and long red hair pulled into a short ponytail. He wears a long red robe, and smiles at the sight of Darren. Despite the fact that he just emerged from the flames, he has no burns.

"Well, g'day mate," he says in an australian accent, raising his arm, and a ruby duel disk appears with a deck. "Name's Tyler, and I'm the Elemental Master of Fire."

"Elemental Master?" Darren asks, scratching his head.

"Aye, we're Doppler's most elite duelists, each one of us representing an element, and as I said, I'm fire," Tyler says. "And I'm a good duelist too, mate, one of the best, and you must be Darren."

"Thats right," Darren says, and activates his duel disk. "Let me guess, I gotta duel you."

"Yep, if you want the key of flames that is," Tyler says, activating his own duel disk. "Now, lets present our deckmasters, I pick my Blazing Inpachi!"

A flaming effigy appears.

"And I'll pick, my Crescent Moon Queen!" Darren says, and the female dark warrior appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" They say in unison.

Tyler grins, and holds his arms back, and shadowy flames surround them, and form on both duelists bodies.

"Ahh, the fire, such a great feeling, don't you agree, mate?" Tyler asks.

"Gahh, what did you do?" Darren says ins shock.

"These are called Shadow flames, Darren, a favorite weapon of a shadow duelist from the past, but lets not get into that," Tyler says, and draws. "I'll start, and summon my Flame Dancer (550/400), in defense mode!" He says, and a single-eyed fire monster appears. "Now, I'll place two cards face down, and end my turn."

_Yeah, I heard rumors about a fire duelist back at the Monster Island tournament who could control the shadow realm,_ Darren thinks, and draws. "Alright, I summon my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1000), in attack mode!" He says, and a monster carrying a spear appears. "Now, attack his flame dancer!"

"Go trap card, DNA Transplant, sure it dosen't stop your attack, but it changes all monsters on the field into fire monsters!" Tyler says, and the Spear Soldier gains a firey look.

"Fine, but my monster's effect still damages your life points!" Darren says, and Tyler chuckles, his life points remaining untouched.

"Sorry, mate, but I activated my trap card, a little thing called Flames of Ha Des, this card makes it so I don't take any damage when you attack with a fire monster," he says, and the imposing figure of the Dark Ruler Ha Des appears behind him, and a fire surrounds him.

_This means that even with Cliff, I couldn't destroy it unless I draw a magic or trap card that gets rid of it,_ Darren thinks to himself. "I'll end my turn there then."

Tyler draws. "I activate my Gracefull Charity spell card," he says, and draws three cards, and then discards two. "And since I'm a nice guy, I'll tell you one of the cards I discarded, my Marie the Fallen One, which will raise my life points by 200 each turn."

The image of a sad looking fiend appears behind him.

"Now, I'll summon my Fire Princess (1300/1500), in defense mode!" He says, and a young woman with long blonde hair and wearing a red dress while carrying a staff appears. "And I'll place one card face down, just in case."

Darren draws. "I summon my Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800), in defense mode!" He says, and an egyptian man with dreadlocks appears. "And thanks to his effect, you lose 500 life points," he says, and Tyler's life points fall to 3500. "And one card face down, your move."

"Alright, I'm going to activate my deckmaster's special ability, Controlled Burn, I declare one type of card, and draw until I reach a card of that type, all other cards go to the graveyard, so I declare monster," he says, and picks up three cards, and then stops at the fourth, placing the other three in his graveyard, as his life points raise to 3700 and Darren's falls to 3500. "And now, I'll summon my Fire Prince (1500/1300), in attack mode!"

A male version of the Fire Princess appears.

"Now, you cannot attack his sister as long as he's on the field," Tyler says. "Give it up mate, there's nothing you can do!"

"I'll take it that you end your turn," Darren says, and draws. "Well, this will work, I sacrifice my Curse, to bring out my Gravekeeper's Chief (1900/1400)!" He says, and the curse vanishes, and is replaced by a tall man in robes with a goatee and carrying a staff. "Now, I can bring back the Gravekeeper's Curse you destroyed thanks to his effect," he says, and the curse appears again, and Tyler's life points fall to 3200.

_This bloke's not bad, but this duel will be mine in the end,_ Tyler thinks.

"Now, I activate my spell card Terraforming, so I can add a spell card to my hand," Darren says, and a card slips out of his deck. "Which I'll now activate, its a little thing called Necrovalley!" He says, and a desert appears around them with the pyramids in the background. "And in this arena, all my Gravekeepers gain an attack of 500," he says, and the Chief's attack goes up to 2400, the Curse's attack goes up to 1300, and the Spear Soldier's attack goes up to 2000. "You best be glad your trap card protects you, otherwise you would take a lot of damage this turn, now Chief, attack the Fire Prince!"

The Gravekeeper's Chief spins his staff, and blasts the monster.

"Now Spear Soldier attack his Fire Princess!" Darren commands, and the soldier rams his spear through the princess, who explodes in a burst of pixels. "Your move, Tyler."

"I'll have to admit, your pretty good, mate, as good as those girls who beat my allies," Tyler says.

"Really, who?" Darren asks, wondering who had already made it through.

"Oh, some samurai and a goth sheila, never caught their names," Tyler says.

"Wendy Wheeler and Marie Huebner?" Darren asks.

"Yeah, that was them," Tyler says as he draws. "Deckmaster time again, and I choose monster," he says, and draws 2 cards this time befores stopping. "Now, I have one of my best monsters in my hand!"

"Ultimate Baseball Kid?" Darren asks.

"Maybe later, but for now, I have this guy, its called Gorlag (1000/1000 + 2000), in attack mode!" he says, and a huge firey demon appears on the field.

_Oh, I remember hearing about this guy,_ Darren thinks. _That guy Alister that dueled Seto Kaiba during the Orichalcos incident used it, this could be trouble, unless..._

"Now Gorlag, attack his Chief!" Tyler commands, and the demon charges at the chief, and he bursts into pixels, but Darren's life points remain untouched, as a matter of fact, the circle of fire around Tyler is also around Darren. "I forgot my trap protects my opponent as well," Tyler growls. "Normally, your monster would be revived on my side next mainphase, but because of your field spell, I'm not so lucky."

"Just as I hoped," Darren says with a smirk. "Is that all."

Tyler looks over his hand. _I've got nothing else at the moment, but when I get the right monster, I'll use my face down trap card, but in the meantime, Gorlag will do,_ he thinks. "Yeah, your move, mate."

"Tyler, I'm just wondering, why are you doing this?" Darren asks. "You don't seem the type."

"Yeah, its true, I'm not the kind of person who would do this, but I have a special reason," Tyler says, and opens a picture hanging around his neck. "I was originaly working for Pegasus, my family needs the money. You see, my parents died a few years ago, leaving me to take care of my younger brother and sister. When Doppler came, I had become a fairly good duelist, mostly using fire monsters, and then Victoria offered me a job in the tournament. You see, the elemental masters weren't originaly supposed to be servants of Doppler, with the exception of the sixth and seventh, we are in it for more than world domination. Sol just wanted to find love, Vanessa wanted eternal youth, but I, I want to get enough money for me and my siblings to live comfortably."

"You mentioned two other members that are an exception, what can you tell me about them?" Darren asks.

"Well, I don't know much, one of them I think is an old enemy of Yugi Motou's, supposed to be a very good dark duelist. The seventh member, our leader, well, we don't know anything about him," Tyler says. "Now make your move."

"Tyler, if you lose this duel, and we can't rescue you from the shadow realm, I'll personaly talk my parents into adopting your brother and sister, I owe you that much," Darren says.

"Thanks mate," Tyler says with a smile.

"Good, so when I win, there won't be any hard feelings, your siblings will still have a good family," Darren says, and draws._ Okay, I seem to have cheered him up a little bit, but I ain't backing down now, this duel is for Katie, and the fate of the world, so I can't let her down,_ he thinks, looking at the card he drew. _Hmm, this all depends on a few things, but it might work, _he thinks. "Hey Tyler, is your monster considered male, female, or generless?" He asks.

"Male, but what's it matter?" Tyler asks.

"Good," Darren says, and takes a card out his hand. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and switch my Spear Soldier to defense mode to end my turn with one card face down."

"Deckmaster time, but this time I'll go for a spell card," Tyler says, and the next card he draws is a spell card. "Which I think I'll activate, its a little thing called Gift of Apollo, by removing one fire monster in my deck from the game, like this one," he says, taking out an extra Fire Princess, and placing it in his pocket. "I can draw three cards," he continues, and draws three cards. "Now, Gorlag, attack his face down monster now!"

"Activate trap card, Shift, which will re-direct your attack to my Curse!" Darren says, and the Gravekeeper's Curse is destroyed instead.

"Fine, but I now activate my Emergency Provisions Spell card, so I'll get rid of my Flames of Ha Des, and gain 1000 life points," he says, and the firey circle around them vanishes, and Tyler's life points raise to 4900. "One more card and thats it for me."

Darren draws. "Alright, time to get rid of Gorlag, I flip summon my face down monster, Dark Scorpion Rose the Seductive!" He says, and the seductive female member of the Dark Scorpions appears. "And now, her effect will activate, I can take control of your monster!"

Rose smiles, and slinks over to Gorlag, and he moves over to Darren's side of the field.

"By skiping my battle phase, I get control of your monster, and I'll use my spell card Switcheroo, so even though my monster was just summoned in attack mode, Rose can be switched to defense mode," he says, and Rose kneels in defense mode. "And, I'll sacrifice your Gorlag for my Gorg the Strong (1800/1500)!" He says, and the bald-headed member of the Dark Scorpions appears swinging his mace. "Your move."

"Deckmaster ability activate, search for monster," Tyler says, and draws 4 cards this time before getting the monster he needs, the other 4 go to the graveyard. _Crap, there goes my Polimerization, unless I draw Spell Reproduction, I can't summon my Volcano Assassin, oh well, this will do,_ he thinks. "I activate my trap card, its a little thing called Level Conversion Lab!"

A weird lab with a what appears to be the Magical Scientist appears.

"So, I select one card in my hand, and roll a die, the result of the roll equals the new level of my monster, so, lets do this!" He says, and a die is rolled, and it lands on a...

3!

"Which means, I can summon this beauty without a tribute, go Fire Queen (2500/2000)!" Tyler says, and a beautiful woman with long red robes appears. "And when she is summoned, I can special summon my Fire King (3000/2500), from my deck!" He says, and a tall man in red robes appears.

_Crap, that thing is as powerfull as Ariel's Blue-Eyes! _Darren thinks.

"And now, I can activate a field spell card from my deck, a little thing called Volcano Palace!" He says, and a huge citadel appears behind him as the desert gives way to a volcano-laced area. "Your doomed!"

"Okay, how does this thing work exactly?" Darren asks.

"First, all my fire monsters gain 500 attack and defense points," Tyler says, and all of his monster's attack and defense points go up by 500. "Then, if you destroy a monster with the effect of a spell, trap, or monster, I gain life points equal to the monster's original attack. And while I'm at it, I'll place one card face down. Now my King, destroy his Rose!"

The king draws a sword, and slashes at the Dark Scorpion member.

"Go trap card, Great Escape!" Darren counters. "This negates your attack, and prevents you from attacking Rose again this turn."

"Fine, Fire Queen, destroy his Spear Soldier!" Tyler commands, and the queen destroys the soldier. "Your move."

Darren draws. _Excelent, I knew this card would come in handy,_ he thinks. "I'm going to use the special ability of Rose again, and take controll of your King!" He says, and the Fire King comes over to his side of the field. "And I'll place this card face down, and activate Mystical Space Typhoon on your Field!" he says, and a wind blows away the Volcano Palace is blown away. "That ends my turn."

Tyler draws normally again. "Alright punk, I can't do much else, so I switch my monster to defense mode, and end my turn," he says.

Darren draws. "Your life points aren't going to last very long, I activate the spell card, Pot of Lust," he says, and a card appears on the field, and an inviting scent emits from it. "This card can only be activated when one player has taken controll of the monster of his opponent, and then both players get to draw cards equal to half the stars of the monster that was taken controll of," he says, and both players draw 4 cards. "Now I'll switch Rose to attack mode!" He says, and Rose rises to her feet, and raises her sword. "Game over, first Fire King destroys your Fire Queen!"

The King slashes through the Queen, who screams.

"And now, I'm going to activate my deckmaster's special ability, double attack, this lets any monster with over 7 stars attack again, as long as they switch to defense mode afterwords.!" He says, and the King slashes through Tyler, and his life points fall to 1900, but he's screaming in pain from the Shadow Flames. "I'm sorry Darren, I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"I know you will, mate," Tyler says. "My brother and sister, their names are Kenny and Chloe, they'll be waiting for me, defeat Doppler, and I will be saved, if I don't make it out, tell them, I love them."

"I will, now Rose, Gorg, attack him directly!" Darren commands, and first Rose slashes at him with her sword, and then Gorg hits him with his mace, lowering Tyler's life points to 0.

The fire duelist screams as the flames consume him, and his body falls to the ground souless.

Darren picks up the key of flames, and sighs. _Your brother and sister are in good hands,_ he thinks, not noticing Bakura sneaking up behind him, and then he colapses.

**00000**

_Fire Prince, Fire Queen, Fire King, Gift of Apollo (might've gotten the name wrong) and Volcano palace where all created by Cyber Commander._

_The Deckmaster ability of Blazing Impachi was made by Team Santoryu, they get all credit._

_Gorlag was used by Alister in the Waking the Dragons series._

**00000**

_**Flames of Ha Des.**_

_**Continuous Trap**_

_**Image of Dark Ruler Ha Des standing over the forces of Pandemonium, and surrounded by fire. As long as this card is active, neither player takes damage when one fire monster attacks another.**_

_**Pot of Lust**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**A pot similar to the Pot of Greed, only red with a seductive looking woman's face. This card can only be activated when either player has a monster on the field that they took controll of from the opponent. Both players draw cards equal to half the monster that fits this criteria's level stars (if level is odd, like say, 7, the user of this card draws 4, and the opponent draws 3).**_

**00000**

_**Crescent Moon Queen-Double attack: A level 7 or higher monster can attack twice in one turn as long as it switches to defense mode afterwords.**_

**00000**

_**Wow, I get through these fast, must have something to do with the fact that I did these all in advance.**_

_**Next chapter, Ariel's up against a water duelist using a strange monster from the depths of the ocean. Can she beat this prehistoric terror? Find out in, "Torrential Tribute."**_


	41. Torrential Tribute

_I appologize for the little incident last chapter, we are all fine, though Joey is suffering from slight brain trama, no wait, he already had that._

_Anyway, 46 chapters down, and yet so many to go._

_After this fanfiction is done, I will be writting a sequal to it, let me know if you all have any suggestions. I'll give more of the plot another time._

_Disclaimer: I only own the caracters._

**00000**

_**As anyone already knows, I'm Ariel Kaiba. But few people know that since I was a little girl, I had always had a fascination with the ocean.**_

_**In my earlier days as a duelist (I was about 5 when I started), I used a water deck for a short time, it wasn't as successfull as the deck I use now, but it did fairly well.**_

_**I still have fond memories of the day I beat my dad using it, especialy when all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons where blown away by my Neo Dadelaus' special ability.**_

_**Now, I'm facing a duelist who looks like she copied off of my earlier strategy, and while thats not illegal, its still troublesome.**_

_**  
After all, the ocean may be beautiful, but its also deadly.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 41:**

**TORRENTIAL TRIBUTE**

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**00000**

_Ahh, the sun, light and warmth,_ Sartorious says, drawing the next tarot card and placing it on the table. _Only one duelist in Katie's little crew could fit this card, and thats Ariel Kaiba, this could be troublesome, if another duelist fails, Doppler will have my neck._

**00000**

Ariel walks down her own hallway, she notices this one is designed oddly with images of sea monsters and ships.

_Maybe whoever is at the end of this hallway likes the ocean or something,_ she thinks with a shrug, and like the previous three duelists, reaches a door with an inscription.

_"Full of wrath rises the shadow of the sea,_

_She bears no mark, yet the beast is strong,_

_The ocean must dry for thy victory to be assured."_

_Water, obviously, this might be interesting,_ Ariel says, and pushes the door open.

Inside is a glass dome, swimming above her is a huge shark.

Ariel stares in disbelief, the shark looked like the modern-day Great White Shark, only pure white, and about 60 feet long. The beast stares at Ariel with cold, almost lifeless eyes, and a glow seems to surround it.

"Do you like watching my pet?" A voice from the other end of the arena says, causing Ariel to snap out of the trance. "He's a magnificent beast, isn't he? _Carcharadon megalodon_, the greatest preditor to ever live, even greater than man."

Out from the shadows steps a young woman with long sea-green hair pulled into a braid, she is about 5 inches shorter than Ariel, but seems unintimidated by the Dragon Princess, she wears a light blue bikini, and around her neck is a necklace covered with shark teeth.

"And you are?" Ariel asks.

"I am Crystal, the Elemental Master of Water, and the duelist you must beat to gain the Wave Key," Crystal replies. "And there's a little more to me, but you'll figure it out as we go. Let me explain the rules of this shadow game!"

She raises her arm to the Megalodon swimming above them.

"You see, my pet here is very rare, I've never been able to successfully get a female to breed with him. You can tell by the number of teeth on my necklace," she says, and holds up the necklace. "So any female duelist I face must compete not for their soul, but for their very humanity. The loser of this duel will become a Megalodon for the rest of their lives, and will either be devoured by my pet, or, well, you'll see."

"Whatever," Ariel says, and activates her duel disk.

"Hmm, Ariel Kaiba, isn't it? The undefeated Ariel Kaiba, or at least you used to be, you've lost what, one official duel?" Crystal asks, and activates her duel disk. "Alright, I'll pick as my deckmaster, my Nightmare Penguin!"

A penguin in a Tuxedo appears next to her.

"Hmm, that could be troublesome, alright, I'll pick..." Ariel says, looking through her deck, and stopping on one card. _Well, this monster is hard to summon, and I remember when I did some training with Marik, he always told me this card would come in handy someday,_ she thinks. "Alright, I pick as my Deckmaster, a gift from an old friend of the family, the mighty Masked Beast Des Guardias!"

The huge fiend with three masks appears next to her.

"Wow, and I thought Stan was ugly," Crystal says.

"Megalodon, or old boyfriend?" Ariel asks.

"Both, but thats another story," Crystal says.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Crystal says, and draws. "Alright, I'll start by summoning my Giant Red SeaSnake (1800/800 + 200), in attack mode!" She says, and a huge sea serpent monster appears with a roar. "And I'll place one card face down to end my turn."

Ariel draws. "Your monster might be strong, but not unbeatable, I start by activating the Dark Door, so we can each only attack once per tunr, or that would be the case, but I'm chaining it with my spell card, Spell Half Off, I pay 500 life points, and my spell's effect only targets one side of the field, yours," Ariel says, making Crystal growl as Ariel's life points fall to 3500. "And now, I'll set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Crystal draws. "I summon my Maiden of the Aqua (700/2000 + 200), in defense mode!" she says, and a woman carrying a staff and having short blue hairs appears. "As long as she's on the field, Umi is considered to be in play, so I'll equip her with the Heart of Clear Water, so you can't destroy her without either first raising her attack another 400, or destroying the equip card. Now Red Sea Snake, attack her face down monster!"

The snake charges at a face down mosnter, which is revealed to be a cherebub, who squeaks in fear as he is destroyed.

"Thanks, that was my Skelangel, now I can draw one more card," Ariel says, and draws. _Perfect, I'll win this duel next turn,_ she thinks.

"Alright, I place one card face down, and end my turn," Crystal says.

Ariel draws. "I'll place two cards face down, and set my Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200), in defense mode!" she says, and a clown appears with a tip of his hat and a chuckle. _When she destroys my peten, I'll activate my face down Crush Card, and even if she plays a spell card to destroy mine, I'll just use my Magic Jammer,_ she thinks, and nods. "Go."

Crystal draws. "I summon my Mermaid Knight (1500/800 + 200)!" She says, and a mermaid appears swinging a sword. "Now, attack her Peten!"

The mermaid slashes through the clown, and Ariel smiles.

"You triggered my trap card, my Crush Card Virus!" She counters, and the Mermaid and Red Sea Serpent explodes, and so does two monsters in Crystal's hand. "This trap card destroys every card on your field and hand with 1500 attack or higher, and the same for the next three turns."

"Fine, one card face down, your move," Crystal says.

Ariel draws. _Nothing I can use to destroy her monster,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Crystal draws, and shrugs as she discards an Unshaven Angler. "Your move."

Ariel draws, and thinks for a minute. "Alright, I flip summon my face down monster..." she says, and a small version of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears. "This is called Baby Blue-Eyes (500/300), to utilize her effect, I'll sacrifice her to summon Gorg the Strong!" She says, and the bald-headed Dark Scorpion member appears. "Now, I activate my Gracefull Charity Spell card," she says, and draws 3 cards, and then discards 2. _I'll need 5 more cards to use my monster's effect, but its only a matter of time,_ she thinks. "And I'll end my turn."

Crystal draws. "I'll place one card face down to end my turn," she says.

Ariel draws. _Finally,_ she thinks. "I activate a gift from my Aunt Mai Valentine, Harpie's Feather Duster!" She says, and a huge windstorm blows away all of Crystal's Magic and Trap cards, which includes a Mirror Force and a Tornado Wall. "Now, I summon my Command Knight (1200/1900 + 400)!"

A female warrior in ceremonial armor appears. Gorg's attack points go up to 2200.

"Gorg, attack her Maiden!" Ariel commands, and Gorg smashes through the monster, who bursts into pieces. "Now Command Knight, attack with Burning Sword!"

The knight slashes through Crystal with a flaming sword, and her life points fall to 2400.

"Not bad," Crystal says.

"Your move," Ariel says.

Crystal draws. "I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards. "I activate the field spell, A Legendary Ocean!" He says, and water falls around them, and a huge castle appears behind Crystal. "Now, I'm going to activate my Monster Reborn spell card, to bring back my Ocean Dragon Lord-Neo Dadealus (2900/1700 + 400/200)!" She says, and a huge sea serpent monster appears with a roar.

_Oh no, not that monster!_ Ariel thinks.

"And now, I'll activate his special ability, and sacrifice my field spell, to destroy all cards on the field, and discard every card in our hands," Crystal says.

The ocean seemingly goes down a drain, but at the same time, all of their cards currently in play and hands, except for the Dragon Lord get sucked down with it.

"Now attack her directly!" Crystal commands, and the dragon bites down on Ariel, and swallows her for a minute before spitting her back out with 400 life points left, not to mention dripping wet.

"Eww, dragon spit," Ariel says, wiping her face clean. "I should've known this would be a bad day to wear my contacts," she says, squinting to see apparently having lost her contacts somewhere inside the monster, she puts on a pair of glasses, and shrugs. "Anyway, you activated my deckmaster's special ability, since I took more than 2000 points of damage from a single source, I can activate a specific equip card from my deck, hand, or graveyard, and I'll pick this one, the Mask of Remmnants!"

A hideous horned mask appears, and attaches to the Dragon Lord, who floats over to Ariel's side of the field.

"Is that all?" She asks.

"Yeah," Crystal says.

Ariel draws. "Alright, I'm gonna sacrifice Neo Dadelus, to summon the mighty Airknight Parsanth (1900/1400)!" She says, and a centaur monster appears. "Now, my deckmaster's other ability activates, which shuffles my mask card back into my deck since I tributed the monster it was equipped to," Ariel says, and shuffles the card back in. "Now Parsanth, attack her directly!" She says, and the centaur slashes at Crystal, and her life points fall to 500. "And thanks to his effect, I can draw one card," she says, and does so. "Your move."

"I'm still in the lead," Crystal says, and draws. "Go, Card of Sanctity!" she says, and draws 6 cards while Ariel draws 5. _Still not what I need, but this will do,_ she thinks. "One card face down, and I'll activate Card Destruction!" she says, and discards and draws 4 cards, while Ariel does the same with 6. "Now, I'll activate my second Legendary Ocean field!" She says, and the sunken city appears again, Ariel looks nervously up at the Megalodon circling above them. "Now, I summon my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (1800/1500 + 400/200), in attack mode!" She says, and a seahorse-like warrior appears. "Now attack her Airknight!"

The monster charges at the centar, and runs its trident through it and Ariel's life points fall to 100.

"Your move, Kaiba," she says.

Ariel draws. "You helped me a great deal, Crystal," Ariel says with a smirk. "First, I'm going to change the scenery, I activate a field spell known as Draconian Sanctuary!"

The ground beneath them rumbles, and from it bursts a huge volcano with a huge black citadel appearing in the sky above them.

"Now, I'm going to activate the special ability of my Baby Blue-Eyes, since she's in the graveyard, and there are 8 cards on top of it, I can special summon a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand (3000/2500 + 400)!" She says, and the magnificent white dragon appears. "Of course, thanks to the other part of the ability, I can't normal summon this turn, but I can still attack, Blue-Eyes, destroy her mosnter with White Lightning attack!"

The dragon blasts away the warrior, but Crystal's life points stay the same.

"I discarded a Kuriboh," she explains, showing the card.

"I'll end my turn with one card face down," Ariel finishes

Crystal draws. "I activate my Terraforming spell card, so I can add a field spell to my hand!" She says, and takes a card out of her deck. "And now, I'll activate it, go, Mariana Trench!"

More water pours down on them, and a huge trench appears between them.

"Welcome to the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on earth, seven miles to be exact, and now, I'll activate a spell card called Primal Waters, this lets me special summon my best monster from my deck to the field, _**Megalodon, Shark Queen of the Abyss**_ (3400/3000 + 400/400)!" She says, and a huge Megalodon emerges from the trench.

"Wait a minute," Ariel says. "I've heard of those cards, those are part of the Icons of Popular Culture series from the Hydra Corperation, they're not even supposed to be released to the public for another year!"

"True," Crystal says. "But the cards where originaly made by Industrial Illusions, Marie had to get permission from Victoria Pegasus to even release them, and I got the original prototype of these cards. This duel is over, now Megalodon, attack with savage bite!"

The giant shark swims right at the Blue-Eyes.

"Don't get too drunk with power, Crystal, you'll fall right into a trap, go, Mirror Force!" Ariel counters, and the shark is destroyed by a reflection of its own attack.

"Fine, make your move," Crystal says with a scowl.

"Game over, Crystal, Blue-Eyes, direct attack!" Ariel commands, and the dragon blasts away the rest of Crystal's life points.

Suddenly, a doorway in the dome opens up, and a cyllinder comes down towards Crystal, as Ariel starts to walk away, she grabs Ariel's trench coat.

"I'm not going down alone!" She screams, but Ariel easily breaks free of the crazy woman's grip, and drives her knee right into Crystal's solar polexis, knocking the breath out of her logn enough to be taken by the cyllinder.

Ariel shrugs, and takes the key, and heads out of the dome.

Only to be ambushed by Bakura.

"You..." she growls, before colapsing.

_You dueled well, priestess, but you and your friends won't win it in the end,_ Bakura thinks, and dissapears into the shadows.

**00000**

_**Spell Half-Off**_

_**Quick Play Spell**_

_**Image of a group of spellbooks with a half off sign. Activate this card when a spell card that effects both players is activated, pay 500 life points, and the spell only effects one player.**_

_**Baby Blue-Eyes**_

_**Light**_

_**500/300**_

_**2**_

_**Dragon/Effect**_

_**This newly hatched Blue-Eyes has a lot to live up to, but she will soon scale to great hights. After this card is sent to the graveyard, and 8 cards are on top of it, you can special summon one "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your hand or deck.**_

_**Dragonic Sanctuary**_

_**Field Spell**_

_**Image of a volcano and a giant floating citadel. All dragon montsers on the field gain 400 attack points, and are unaffected by magic or trap cards.**_

_**Mariana Trench**_

_**Field Spell**_

_**Image of a dark ocean floor with a trench jutting across it. All monsters of the water attribute gain 400 attack points.**_

_**Primal Waters**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of sharks swimming around in a feeding frenzy. This card can only be activated when "Mariana Trench" is active. Special summon one "Megalodon, Shark Queen of the Abyss" from your hand or deck to the field.**_

_**Angel, Shark Queen of the Abyss**_

_**Water**_

_**3400/3000**_

_**9**_

_**Fish/Effect**_

_**A prehistoric shark that has existed into modern times. This monster can only be summoned by the effect of "Primal Waters." When this monster battles a monster of 6 stars or less, the monster is automaticaly destroyed, and this card can attack again if there is another monster on the opponent's side of the field. If this monster attacks a monster with 8 stars or higher, this monster is automaticaly destroyed.**_

_**(The previous 3 cards where based off of Steve Alten's Meg series, all credit goes to him.)**_

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_**Deckmasters:**_

_**  
Masked Beast Des Guardias-Power of the Remnant: When you lose 2000 life points or more from a single source, activate one "Mask of Remnants" from your hand, deck, or graveyard. When the monster equipped with "Mask of Remnants" is tributed for a summoning, shuffle "Mask of Remnants" back into your deck.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that's 4 down, and two to go.**_

_**Next chapter, its Renee's turn to duel, and her opponent is a powerful wind duelist. Wendy might've been able to beat Lauren before, but this one is stronger, can Renee win? Find out in, "Winds of Etiqua."**_

_**Don't miss it, because we'll start without you.**_


	42. Windstorm of Etiqua

_Well, here's chapter 47, and the harpies make their return._

_Ra, I hate harpies._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Yep, Renee Lords here, Guardian duelist extrodinare, and daughter of one of the few duelists to ever beat Yugi Motou in a fair fight.**_

_**I remember earlier in the tournament, Wendy had to duel Ariel Kaiba's younger sister Lauren who specialized in the Harpie ladies. She was a pretty good duelist, but Wendy won it in the end.**_

_**Now I'm facing a woman who calls herself the Queen of the Harpies, and I'll admit she's a pretty good duelist.**_

_**And I'm a little uneasy about how well I'll fare against her.**_

_**Well, I can't let Katie down, I gotta win this duel...**_

_**No matter what.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 42:**

**WINDS OF ETIQUA**

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_The Emperess, I guess this could represent Renee Lords, but I can't be sure,_ Sartorious says, looking at the next card, and placing it on the table.

**00000**

Renee is walking down the hallway at the same time, you get the point, she reaches a door at the end.

_"The power of the storms is my gift,_

_No mortal can escape my wrath,_

_  
Quell the winds to proceed."_

_Interesting,_ Renee thinks, and opens the door.

Inside is a forest with barren trees, and grotesque, almost human faces, all are covered in thorns.

"Where am I?" Renee wonders out loud.

"You are in what the famous Dante called the Woods of the Suicides, in the seventh circle of Hell, or at least the Duelist Dimension Equivilant to it," a voice says from behind a tree. Out steps a woman, wearing a torn green robe and having talons instead of hands and feet, with long red hair, and white wings. "Ahh, fresh prey. I am Skye, the Queen of the Woods, and the Elemental Master of Winds."

"Okay, but exactly what are you?" Renee asks. "You look like a..."

"Harpie? Why yes, that is what I am," Skye says, and a duel disk appears on her arm. "If you want to gain the Key of Winds, and pass on through the castle, you must defeat me in a duel!"

"Fine," Renee says, and activates her duel disk. "I'll pick as my deckmaster, my favorite monster, the Guardian Elma!"

The red haired guardian appears next to her.

"And I think I'll pick, the Skull Red Bird!" Skye says, and a red bird appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

**00000**

"Dartz, Joseph, how good of you to answer the phone," Doppler says, looking at two screens, one showing a man in white clothing with long aqua blue hair, the other showing a skinny man wearing a black suit with short brown hair.

"Don't play games with us, Doppler, you know the prophescy, we will get our shot at the chosen of light," Dartz says. "You may be powerfull in your little virtual world, but until you find a way to defeat Katie Motou, you will have no influence on the real world, that is our job."

"When Lucifer entrusted us with the task of conquering the world in his name, I have put up my end as the Potentate of the Global Community, but you two have been neglecting your duties," the third man, obviouisly Joseph Strongheim says.

"Strongheim, you know that I cannot act until Doppler finishes," Dartz snaps at the Antichrist. "And at least I'm actually putting together good duelists to fight in my organization, last time I checked, you two aren't doing anything. Strongheim, the only duelists among your Peacekeepers are a joke, and Doppler, not only did your Spirit Eliminators and other minions fail to defeat Katie and her little band, 4 of your 7 best duelists have already been defeated by them!"

"Don't worry, I've got a failsafe, Bakura will not..." Doppler starts, but is interrupted again.

"Bakura, we never should've even gotten mixed up with that man!" Strongheim shouts. "He is a known terrorist, and only sides with whoever he finds most profitable, how do we know that he won't help Katie and her friends?"

"Bakura, is no Tribulation Saint, or any kind of Saint for that matter," Doppler says. "Besides did you forget the fact that he hates the Pharoh that inhabits Katie Motou's body? He's about as much of a believer as I am. And even if he fails, there's still Sartorious..."

"Sartorious is jsut a wannabe fortune teller, he may have been successful at one time with his, Society of Light, but he failed miserably!" Dartz says. "And plus, how do we know we can trust him either? What about his good side, won't that be a factor?"

"His good side will nto be a problem, Dartz," Doppler says. "I have seen to it."

"And Dartz, aren't you being a little hypocritical? Your organization failed its first try," Strongheim points out.

"At least my organization made an actual effort to do what it was set out to do!" Dartz says.

Suddenly, there is a knock on the door.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, we will continue this conversation another time," Doppler says, and the two screens shut off.

Doppler turns in her chair as Victoria Pegasus enters.

"Doppler, what are you trying to pull here, even after defeated your Elemental Masters, Marie, Wendy, Darren, and Ariel all dissapeared," she shouts at the demon.

"I can assure you Miss. Pegasus, I had nothing to do with it, as a matter of fact, I have a suspition of who it really was," Doppler says.

"Who?" Victoria asks.

"Thats for me to know, and you to find out, just keep an eye on their progress," Doppler says, and Victoria stomps out. _Such a fool, Bakura's, tactics, where his idea, but I'm allowing it, even providing him with the technolgy, in exchange, when I defeat them, he'll gain their Millenium Items, and Strongheim will pen a few medals on him, I hope that this goes well. After all, Lucifer, the greatest evil in existence, charged us all to take care of this for him, and who does he send to deal with the humans? His snot-nosed son who puts himself out as a pacifist, well, the world will hate him soon enough, when his identity is revealed, and I almost hope to be able to see that._

**00000**

"I'll go first," Skye says, and draws. "I summon Birdface (1600/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a humanoid bird appears. "One card face down, your move."

Renee draws. "I'll activate my Guaridian Treasure spell card," Renee says, and discards 5 cards, and draws two. "I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Skye draws. "I summon Harpie Lady 1 (1300/1400 + 300), in attack mode!" She says, and the red-haired harpie appears. "Birdface, attack!"

The bird charges at the face down monster, and a purple demon appears.

"Back up Guardna (0/2200)," Renee says, and Skye's life points fall to 3700. "They always fall for that."

"Grrr, your move," Skye says.

As Renee draws her two cards, she notices something weird, Skye is looking a little stiff.

_Interesting,_ Renee thinks, and looks at her draws. "Okay, I equip my Guardna with Shooting Star Bow-Ceal!"

A bow and arrow appears in the demon's hands.

"Now, I can summon my Guardian Ceal (1700/1400), in attack mode!" She says, and a wolfish guardian monster appears. "Now, I'll use my Guardna's special ability, and switch the Shooting Star Bow to my Guardian!"

The bow and arrow appears in Guardian Ceal's hands, and his attack falls to 700.

"Now, I use his special ability, by sacrificing my bow, I can destroy your monster automatically!" Renee says, and Ceal sends a flaming arrow at the monster, and the Birdface explodes, and Ceal's attack goes back up to 1700. "Now, attack her monster!" She commands, and Ceal fires another arrow, and destroys the Harpie Lady 1, dropping Skye's life points to 3600. "Now, I'll place one card face down, and end my turn."

Skye draws. "I activate Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, and then discards two. "Now I activate my field spell, Harpie's Hunting Ground!"

The scenery around them changes into a forest with normal trees, and rocks surrounding them forming an arena.

"And now, I'll summon my Harpie Lady 3 (1300/1400 + 200)!"

A harpie with spiky blue hair appears.

"And I'll place one card face down to end my turn."

Renee draws. _No more equip cards, but oh well, I can still attack,_ she thinks. "Now Guardian Ceal, destroy her Harpie!"

The guardian sends an arrow at the Harpie.

"Activate trap card, Hysteric Party!" Skye counters, and suddenly a Harpie Lady 1 and an orange-haired harpie appears. "Now I can summon from my graveyard, Harpie Ladies 1 and 2!"

_Oh no!_ Renee thinks.

"Now, I'll destroy your Guardian Treasure with the effect of my field spell!" Skye says.

"Go trap card, Spell Shield Type 9, this protects my card from being destroyed, but I have to discard two spell cards from my deck," Renee counters, and takes out a Fairy of the Spring and Purity of the Graveyard. "And this trap also prevents you from using that effect for as long as your card is in play."

"Fine, but your still attacking, and Harpie Lady 1 powers up my monster by 300 more, so Harpie lady 3, counter attack!" Skye says, and the Harpie slashes through Guardian Ceal, and Renee's life points fall to 3900.

"Fine, I'll end my turn with one card face down," Renee says.

Skye draws. "I summon, my Cyber Harpie (1800/1300 + 500), in attack mode!" She says, and a Harpie with metalic armor appears. "Now, attack her monster!"

The Harpie charges at the Back-up Guardna.

"Go trap card, Ballista Cannon, this redirects the attack at your life points!" Renee says, and the attack instead hits Skye, and her life points fall to 1300.

"Well, go quick play spell card, Curse of the 7th circle, this deals you the same amount of damage I just took!" Skye counters, and Renee's life points fall to 1600. "Your move, kid."

_I gotta draw something good, right now!_ Renee thinks, and draws two cards. "Alright, now I activate the spell card Lightning Vortex!" she says, and discards a card, and the 4 harpies are destroyed. "Now, I switch my Guardna to attack mode!"

The demon rises up and takes an offensive stance.

"Now, I activate Sword and Shield, switching the attack and defense points of my monster, and now, he'll attack you directly!" Renee commands, and the demon slashes at Skye, dropping her life points to 0.

Suddenly, Skye stiffens, and thorns grow all over her body, soon she is trapped as a tree. Renee picks up the Key, and starts to head out, only to colapse with Bakura standing over her.

_Now that I have all of Katie's friends, I will go after Katie herself!_ Bakura thinks with a laugh.

**00000**

_Ballista Canon was created by Cyber Commander._

**00000**

_**Spell Shield Type 9**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image similar to the Spell Shield Type 8, only more advanced. Discard two spell cards from your deck to negate the effect of a spell card. If that spell is continuous, the effect cannot be used again.**_

_**Curse of the 7th Circle**_

_**Quick-Play Spell**_

_**Image of the Harpies feasting. This card can only be activated when you take damage, deal the opponent the same amount of damage.**_

**00000**

_**Sorry that it was short, but I wanted to get to this quickly.**_

_**Next chapter, its finally Katie's turn, and she faces an old enemy. That's right, Bakura is back, can Katie win this time? Find out in, "Dark Spirit of the Silent."**_


	43. Dark Spirit of the Silent

_48 chapters down, and we're just getting started._

_This chapter is a double tribute._

_First and formost, it is a tribute to one of the greatest villains in Yu-Gi-Oh history, the legendary Thief King Bakura._

_And second of all, to Cyber Commander's Yu-Gi-Oh Junior trillogy which has long since ended, but has influenced my writing style greatly. This duel has one of the stranger parts of the first fanfiction, but how will it end? Only time will tell._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**From an early age, my dad told me a lot about his different duels.**_

_**It felt kinda cool, that he could sit down with his 5 year old daughter, and recount his greatest adventures card for card, it was this early influence that drove me to making my own deck.**_

_**However, there was one duelist that stood out in my mind, one that my dad had to duel a total of three times, twice with the help of the Spirit, the third time on his own with only his friends.**_

_**Now the same duelist is back, and I have the support of the spirit, and despite his efforts, my friends.**_

_**But this time, I don't know if I can win, even with their help.**_

**00000**

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**CHAPTER 43:**

**DARK SPIRIT OF THE SILENT**

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**00000**

_Well, its obvious who is next, only the Pharoh remains, and if Bakura fails, I'm next,_ Sartorious thinks, and stands up. _Well, I best prepare._

**00000**

Katie, not knowing the fate that had befallen her friends, is walking down the last hallway, looking around uneasy.

_This place gives me the creeps, and the feeling of dread dosen't help either,_ she thinks, holding her pink jacket close to her.

A door is in front of them, but unlike the others, it has no inscription.

_"Katie, we must approach with caution, I sense an ancient and evil power within,"_ Yami says in spectral form next to her.

_"Right,"_ Katie says, and pushes the door open.

The room inside is dark, pure, unfiltered, darkness. Katie can barely see anything in front of her face.

Suddenly, out of the darkness emerges something, it appears to be a golden dreamcatcher, but then behind it emerges...

"BAKURA?" Katie demands as Yami takes over.

"Thats right Pharoh," Bakura says with a cruel chuckle. "Doppler was kind enough to use her magic to allow my spirit to take a physical form whenever I want. And now you and I must duel!"

"And if I were to refuse?" Katie asks.

"You have no choice, Pharoh, for you see, if you where to refuse, you would never see your friends again!" He says, and shows a plaque, on it is 5 cards, each with the image of one of Katie's friends. "I have locked them all away in the Shadow Realm, and if you want to save them, you and I must duel! Not to mention, you have to get the Key of Shadows from me in order to continue on."

"Fine, get your duel disk..." Katie says.

"Oh, but we won't be dueling that way today," Bakura says, and waves an arm, suddenly a huge Dueling Station from the old Duelist Kingdom days appears out of nowhere. "Sure this thing is a little outdated, but it will suit our purposes fine," he says, and steps onto the Red platform, and Katie steps onto the blue, they both place their decks in the spots. "Now, pick your deckmaster, I think I will pick, my Bistro Butcher!"

A demonic chef appears next to him.

"And I'll pick, my Dark Magician Girl!" Katie says, and the beautiful apprentice of the Dark Magician appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll start," Katie says, and draws. "I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Bakura draws. "I summon Death Calibre Knight (1900/800), in attack mode!" He says, and a demonic horseman appears. "Now, attack her face down monster!"

The horseman charges at the monster, and raises his sword...

Only to be knocked back by a Mystical Elf, Bakura growls as his life points drop to 3900.

"Fine, I'll place one card face down to end my turn," he finishes.

Katie draws. _Okay, I don't know what that face down card is, but its probably something dangerous, and by the looks of it, he's using that deck he used against my dad during the whole thing with the Pharoh's memories,_ Katie thinks, looking over her hand as Bakura smirks. "Alright, I'll sacrifice my Elf to summon my Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!"

A green robed spellcaster appears.

"Now, attack his knight!"

"Activate trap card, Negate Attack!" Bakura counters, and the attack is fizzled out by a vortex.

"Fine, I'll place one card face down and end my turn," Katie says.

"I'm going to activate my Deckmaster's special ability, I can draw two cards in exchange for discarding one," Bakura says, and draws two cards, and then discards a card Katie recognizes as a Headless Knight. "Now I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Katie draws. _Okay, lets see here, he has no face down cards this time, but I'm sure he has something up his sleave,_ she thinks, and looks at Dark Magician Girl who smiles reassuringly. "Alright, I set a monster in defense mode, and I'll have my Chaos Command Magician attack your Knight!"

The spellcaster blasts the fiendish horseman, and Bakura's life points fall to 3400.

"Your move, thief."

"I'll activate my deckmaster again," Bakura says, and draws 3 cards, and discards two. "Now, since I have 3 fiends in my graveyard, I can remove them to summon my Dark Necrofear (2200/2800)!"

The blue fiendish woman appears.

"I'm not afraid of the Dark Necrofear, Bakura, I beat an occult duelist before, and I'll do it again!" Katie exclaims.

"Oh yes, that Spirit Eliminator, the Earl of Demise, you and I both know that he couldn't beat a rug," Bakura says. "Now Dark Necrofear, attack her Chaos Command Magician!"

The fiend sends a blast of unholy energy at the spellcaster, who retaliates with a magical blast, and she's destroyed, Bakura's life points fall to 3200, and he grips his chest a little.

"That cost me some life points, but its worth it, because now I can activate the field spell, _**Dark Sanctuary**_!" he shouts, and dark magic covers the entire field with eyes and mouths, and a huge castle appears behind Bakura. "I'm sure you remember how this works, I'll sacrifice my face down Sangan to maintain it."

The three-eyed fiend dissapears.

"Now I can add a monster with low attack to my hand," he says, and takes a card out of his deck.

_Oh man, I remember this combo, I'm in trouble now,_ Katie thinks. _And the worst part is, I don't have any of my friends to back me up._

_"You have me, Katie, and together we'll beat Bakura, and rescue our friends!"_ Yami says.

"I'll end my turn with one card face down, and playing, The Dark Door!" Bakura says.

Katie draws. "I summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and the lesser Dark Magician appears. _I can't risk attacking now, I'll have to end,_ she thinks. "Your move, Bakura."

"I chain this card to you ending your turn, the trap card, Destiny Board!" Bakura says, and a Ouija board appears on his side of the field, and it moves onto the letter F. And then Bakura draws. "I'm sure you remember how this card works, but that won't matter soon enough, I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200), in defense mode, and end my turn by sacrificing her to the Dark Sanctuary, which lets me take a monster out of my deck with low defense points," he says, and takes a card out of his deck.

Katie draws. _Alright, now I have no choice, I have to attack,_ she thinks. "Chaos Command Magician, attack him directly!"

"Go, Ghost of the Dark Sanctuary!" Bakura shouts, and the ghost emerges from the Magician's back, and blasts Katie, and her life points fall to 2800, and Bakura's rises to 4400.

Then she screams, and falls to her hands and knees, gripping her chest, it felt like a knife was piercing her heart.

"What did you do, Bakura?" She demands.

"This is a shadow game, Pharoh, but one more painfull than anything you have ever experienced, or ever will again!" Bakura says with a laugh. "Its called the Pain Splitter, and this is how it works, everytime you lose life points, you'll feel a great amount of pain, as you've already experienced, and whoever loses this duel will die!"

"Your sadistic," Katie says as she gets to her feet.

"Why thank you," Bakura says with a laugh. "Is that all?"

"Your move," Katie says, still in a little bit of pain.

"And now, I can activate the next part of your message!" Bakura says with glee, and the selector on the Ouija board moves around, and stops on the "I". Bakura draws. "I'll summon my Souls of the Forgotten (900/200), in defense mode, and place one card face down!" He says, and purple spirits appears. "Now, I sacrifice my spirits for the Dark Sanctuary to end my turn."

_Its hopeless, maybe we should just forfeit,_ Katie thinks.

_"Now, that's no way to think,"_ a voice in her head, other than Yami, says.

_"Darren?" _Katie asks.

_"The one and only, but I ain't alone here,"_ Darren says.

_"That's right, Bakura might've sealed us away, but we have two Millenium Items compared to his one, so we where able to figure out a way to communicate with you, and a little more..." _Ariel says.

_"More?" Katie asks._

_"Draw your next card, and you'll see,"_ Renee says.

Katie draws, and looks at it suprised. _This is Ariel's card, but how did it get in here?_ she thinks.

"Make your move already!" Bakura shouts.

"Oh, I will, I'm going to activate a spell card I got from a dear friend, I activate, Raven's Feather Duster, which destroys all your cards, and gives me 500 for each!" Katie shouts.

"WHAT?" Bakura shouts. "I'll chain with Waboku, so I'll take no damage this turn!"

"Fine, but you still lose 4 cards, so I gain 2000 life points!" She says, and her life points rises to 4800 as all of Bakura's spell and trap zones are wiped clean.

_How did she get that card? Doppler told me every card in her deck, and that wasn't on the list, _Bakura thinks. _There has to be something different._

"Alright Bakura, now that you've lost your combo, do you want to try anything else?" Katie asks. "Because thats it for my turn."

"I'm using my deckmaster again!" Bakura shouts, and draws 2 cards, and discards 1. "Now, I'll place two cards face down, and summon Necro Mannekin (500/500), in defense mode!" He says, and a weird disjointed monster appears in defense mode. "Your move."

Katie draws, and looks at the card. _Alright, this will deffinately help, thanks Marie,_ she thinks. "I activate the Vase of Unholy Blight, I'll just discard a dark monster in my deck, like Ebon Magician Curran," she says, and takes the card out of her deck. "And I can draw 3 cards," she says, and does so.

_Where is she getting all these cards, unless..._ Bakura thinks, and looks down at the plaque, and grabs it. "I've figured it out, Katie, your friends must be sending you cards somehow, but what happens if I throw this plaque into the shadow realm?"

_"Oh no,"_ Renee says.

"If you do, then you'll automatically lose the duel," Katie says with a smirk.

"What?" Bakura demands.

"You said that if I defeat you, my friends will be free, right?" Katie asks.

"Yeah, so?" Bakura asks.

"Well, if you throw that into the Shadow Realm, you'll be unable to keep up your end of the bargin, and while you claim to controll the shadows, you have to play fair in the Shadow Realm, and going back on an agreement that set up a shadow game, counts as cheating," Katie says, and Bakura slams his fist on the council, muttering a few words that Katie had to have her mouth washed out as a child if she ever said them. "Now, now Bakura, don't lose your temper, after all, I'm sure that if you work hard enough, you'll be able to win anyway."

"Yeah right," Bakura says. "Its only a matter of time before one of them decides to send you their really big guns, but I have no choice, I will continue on."

_"Yami, I want to take controll for a minute, I want to talk to Bakura," _Katie says.

_"Are you sure?"_ Yami asks.

_"Yes, I'm sure, there's something I must say," _Katie replies, and the Millenium Puzzle glows, and little Katie takes controll. "Bakura, before we continue, I have something I have to say to you."

_Huh? Why is that runt of a hikari in controll?_ Bakura thinks.

"Bakura, to be honest, I feel sorry for you, Bakura," Katie says.

"What? Why?" Bakura says, taken aback, especialy since Katie actually seemed sincere.

_"Katie, what are you doing? This guy just threatened to send all of us into oblivion!"_ Darren says.

_"I know, but I must do this, for not only our sake, but the sake of Bakura," _Katie replies, and looks the thief straight in the eye. "Bakura, you need to know, that I understand what your going through, you've been put down by people in the past, and no one trusts you any more, and on top of that, your village was indeed wrongly massacured by the forces of the pharoh, and you could've had a better life, I realy do feel sorry for you, no one should be put through that sort of thing, like I was, the thing is, Bakura, I can relate with what happened to you."

"You can't know what I was put through, you can't!" Bakura shouts at Katie, but deep inside him, he had the feeling that she might be right.

"Bakura, you keep track of modern events, don't you?" Katie asks, staring the thief king right in the eye.

"Of course," Bakura says.

"Well, then you know all about World War III, well, it hit Japan pretty bad, at the time, me and my parents and younger sister was visiting my mom's parents in Tokyo, that of course got hit pretty bad, despite the fact that Japan was declaired a Neutral nation, I guess they thought there might be Strongheim loyalists, I was there when the bombs fell on Tokyo, I saw the death and destruction, I saw people dying, I saw their heads exploding, and their very bodies being burned to a crisp."

Katie's supporters just look shocked, she hadn't told any of them this.

"Cue flasback used to divert your attention from the Real story!" Someone off stage shouts, her voice oddly sounds like that of Ruin, Queen of Oblivion.

**00000**

_Katie's Flasback_

_"Katie, come on, we have to run!" Yugi shouts to his daugher._

_"Just a second, Yumi, Yumi?" Katie says, calling out the name of her little sister._

_"Katie!" A voice from nearby shouts, and Katie turns to see a small girl with blonde and violet hair like her's, she runs over towards the small girl who is obviously her sister, and gives her a tight hug._

_"Don't ever get away from me again, Yumi," she says, crying._

_"I promise, big sister," Yumi says, and Katie smiles._

_"Come now, we have to get back to mommy and dady," she says, and the two sisters run off._

_**"We should've seen it comming, we had no warning, but suddenly Yumi pushed me to the ground and out of the way, as a barrage of bullets goes through the alleyway we where in!" **Katie says as a voiceover. **"Thanks to her, I survived, but Yumi, my little sister, was killed.**_

_The memory Katie is seen crying by her sister's now dead side, her tears mixing with the blood._

_"Katie, I'm sorry," Yumi says._

_"Its okay, Yumi," Katie says._

_"Katie, just do me this one thing, I have to tell you, I am a believer, I've accepted Jesus as my savior, the Global Community is evil, God has planned this for a long time, and the Potentate is..." Yumi says, and she caughs up blood. "The Potentate, is the..."_

_At that moment, she takes her final breath, and is dead._

_The next few scenes go in slow motion as GC personnel take Yumi's body away, and Katie is brought to a hospital to have her leg, which had been broken in the ordeal, healed._

_**"About two days later, the very man Yumi had tried to warn me about, paid me a visit in the hospital, Joseph Strongheim, the Potentate of the Global Community,"** Katie says as a voiceover._

_"Ahh, you must be Katie Motou," the potentate says. "I'm sorry for your loss, Katie, but there are things that happen in war, death is one of them."_

_"Don't give me that crap, Strongheim," Katie growls._

_"Why Miss. Motou, can't I offer my condolences for the death of your little sister?" Strongheim asks._

_"No, especialy since its all your fault," Katie says. "You could've stopped this all from happening, your administration pledged world peace, not world war!"_

_"I know, but these things are sometimes inevitable, Katie, I am really sorry for your sister," Strongheim says. "If you won't accept that, then very well."_

_  
He walks out, and Katie lays back on her uncomfortable hospital bed._

_End Katie's Flashback_

**00000**

"You see Bakura, I know what its like to lose a loved one, and you don't need to do this, you can end it right now, the combined power of all 4 present Millenium Items should be enough to stop this madness!" Katie says.

_"Katie, are you sure this will work?"_ Renee asks.

_"I really don't know, but I can hope," _Katie replies, and nods, Yami takes controll again.

"So, what do you say, Bakura?" Katie asks.

"I say, work on your delivery, I'm not convinced," Bakura says.

"Well maybe this will work," Katie says, looking at one of the cards she drew. "I sacrifice my two monsters for this, the mighty, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The magnificent white dragon appears.

"You where afraid of my friends sending me their big guns, well, now your facing one of them!" Katie says, and the Blue-Eyes looks back at her with a dragonic smile.

_"It'll be my pleasure to help you, Katie,"_ she says through telepathy.

Katie nods. "Now, I'll attack your monster, White Lightning!"

The dragon blasts at the manakin.

"Go trap card, Ghost Shield, by removing my Sangan from the game, I can negate your attack!" Bakura counters, and a shield appears, and blocks the attack.

_"Oh man, I didn't think he'd try that,"_ Ariel says.

_"Its okay, with these other cards I have, we can still win this one,"_ Katie says. "Your move, Bakura."

Bakura draws. "I activate my trap card, Necro Cycle, so I can summon another Manakin to the field!" he says, and a second Necro Manakin appears. "Now, I sacrifice them both to summon my Despair From the Dark (2800/3000), in defense mode!"

A huge hideous fiend appears.

"Your move."

Katie draws. "Alright, I'm going to set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," she says.

_If she's using her friend's monsters now as well as her own, that face down monster might be something dangerous, I better play it safe,_ Bakura thinks as he uses his deckmaster ability to draw 2 cards and discarding 1. "Perfect, I activatate the spell card, Curse Necros Twins!"

A pair of dolls, one carrying a black present, the other red, appears on the field.

"Now, we each have to pick one of them, and an effect will be activated depending on what box you pick," Bakura says.

Katie thinks for a minute. "I'll take, the Red box," she says, and the second doll hands her the red box, which opens, and she glows with a red energy.

"Now, everytime a card is discarded from your hand or deck, you'll gain 200 life points," Bakura says. "Which leaves me with the black box, this makes my graveyard, non-existant, instead all monsters already there, or that will be destroyed will become ghosts, and not take any space on the field, at least not in the normal sense."

Dark Necrofear, Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, Souls of the Forgotten, and the two manakins appears above him with an eerie green glow.

"And now, I activate the spell card, Killing the Counterbalence, so on each of our end phases, we both have to discard one card from our deck for every monster on the field," Bakura says. "And guess what, my ghosts count for it! But I am exempt, seing as how I have no graveyard anymore, thanks to my card, so what are you going to do, Katie? I set a monster in defense mode, its now your move."

_"Oh man, I already gave you my Raven's Feather Duster, and thats a limited card!"_ Ariel thinks.

_"Don't worry, Ariel, I'll find a way out of this,"_ Katie thinks, and draws. "Alright, I set this monster in defense mode, and one card face down, to end my turn."

"Don't forget, you now have to discard a total of 10 cards, be thankfull you can decide which one's," Bakura says.

Katie growls, and takes 10 cards out of her deck, and grins as her life points raise to 6800.

"Your move, demon," she says.

"Don't feel so smug, I will win this duel," Bakura says and draws. "I flip summon my Necro Pot (1100/900)!" he says, and a zombie-like version of the Morphing Jar appears. "But we'll get to that in a minute, your move."

Katie draws. "I activate my spell card, Tribute to the Doomed, a gift from Renee, I discard one card," she says, and discards a Sinister Serpent. "And I automaticaly destroy your Necro Pot!"

The monster is destroyed.

"I remembered your monster's effect, had I attacked, I would've had to discard a card from my deck for every 300 points of damage I dealt to you," Katie says. "I'll switch my monster to attack mode, its Wendy's Getsu Fuhma!" She says, and the red-haired woman appears.

"NO!" Bakura shouts, remembering that monster's special ability.

"And while I'm at it, I'll activate my trap card, Spirit Barrier, as long as I have one monster on the field, I won't take any battle damage. Now Getsu, attack his Despair From the Dark!" Katie commands, and the warrior woman charges at the zombie, who knocks her down, but she rams her sword into the beast's chest, and they both explode. "Win or lose, any zombie that battles Getsu Fuhma, is destroyed as well."

"You'll pay for that, Motou!" Bakura shouts.

"We'll see, now since I haven't summoned this turn, I summon Darren's favorite monster, Don Zaloog!" Katie says, and the thief appears. "Now Blue-Eyes, hit him with White Lightning!"

The dragon nods, and blasts Bakura, his life points fall to 1400.

"Please, have mercy," Bakura says, obviously in great pain.

"Bakura, we can stop this madness, but you'll have to allow us to stop the Pain Splitter," Katie shouts.

"It won't matter, Doppler will kill me anyway," Bakura says, and smiles. "Katie, thank you, you really helped me there, I am ready to face eternity," he says, and bows his head. "Do it!"

"Okay, Don Zaloog, attack him directly with Sting of the Scorpions!" Katie commands, and the thief slashes at Bakura, and his life points fall to 0.

Katie's friends are restored to their bodies, and the darkness fades, leaving them in a stone room, and a dead Bakura at their feet.

Marie brushes his wild bangs out of the way of his forhead, and smiles, seeing a cross.

"He repented, at the very last minute, he repented, Katie, you just saved his soul," she tells Katie.

Katie smiles, and nods, picking up the Shadow key.

"Hey, last one to the Door of Elements is a rotten egg!" Darren shouts.

**00000**

The 6 duelists reach the door, and look at it, each takes out a key.

Marie places the Sun Key in the golden colored lock.

Wendy places the Stone Key in the grey colored lock.

Darren places the Flame Key in the red colored lock.

Ariel places the Wave key in the blue colored lock.

Renee places the Storm Key in the green colored lock.

And Katie places the Shadow Key in the black lock.

The doors open, and they see a bright light.

_Doppler, here we come,_ Katie thinks as they walk into the light.

**00000**

_The cards Bakura used that are not real appeared mostly in the duel he had with little Yugi in the Pharoh's memory saga._

_Vase of Unholy blight was either created by King Dragun or Cyber Commander._

_Raven's Feather Duster is deffinatly King Dragun's work._

**00000**

_**Well, that's one more chapter down, and a soul saved.**_

_**We still have one more obstacle in our path though, he's made apperances in the last 6 chapters, but now its time for Sartorious to duel. This time, Katie has to face him without Yami's help, can she win it? Find out in, "Ominous Fortunetelling."**_


	44. Ominous Fortunetelling

_Its been a long fanfiction, but finally the end is in sight._

_Welcome to chapter 49, but be weary, you might not like what you see._

_Also, there might be some spoilers for Season 2 of GX._

_Disclaimer: Honestly, if I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, would I be writing this?_

**00000**

_**Well, I've almost made it to the finals, I just have one more opponent.**_

_**This time, Yami is tired out from dueling Bakura, so I have to step up to the plate and duel against this guy.**_

_**My deck might be strange, and my opponent might be a duelist known mostly because he dueled Jaden, and was the leader of the Society of Light.**_

_**I gotta win this duel...**_

_**For all of us.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 44:**

**OMINOUS FORTUNETLLING**

**0000000000**

**00000**

The light around them fades, and they find themselves in an elegant room covered with silver, and seated at a table nearby is Sartorious.

"Welcome, Katie, to the last test," he says.

"We beat your Elemental Masters, why are we here?" Katie asks.

Sartorious ignores her for a minute, and draws a Tarot card. "The Pentacle," he says, looking at it. "This card represents not the Pharoh, young Katie, but you."

"Me?" Katie asks.

"Yes, and this means that we must duel, now!" Sartorious says, standing up. "I am Sartorious, the 7th and final Elemental Master!"

"Fine," Katie says. _"Yami, are you okay with this?"_

_"That last duel took a lot out of me, but be carefull,"_ Yami says.

"Alright, before we start, I need to change my deck," Katie says, and removes her deck from the deck slot in the duel disk, and replaces it with another one she took out of her pocket.

_"Katie? Is that the deck you showed me before we came here?"_ Yami asks.

Katie smiles, and nods. "Alright, I'll choose as my deckmaster, my Malice Doll of Demise!" She says, and the ugly fiend appears.

"Uhh, since when does she have that card in her deck?" Darren asks.

"I don't know," Ariel says.

"Fine, and I'll pick my Sand Gambler!" Sartorious says, and a young man with short brown hair appears.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Katie says, and draws.

"She's not using her usual deck, I wonder what she's using this time," Darren says.

"I don't know," Renee says.

_This might be that old deck she had, but she hasn't used that in years,_ Renee thinks.

"Alright, I activate a field spell, The Haunted Dollhouse!" Katie says, and the arena around them changes to look like the inside of a dollhouse. "And now, I'll summon my Alice the Wandering Bisque Doll (1000/1000), in attack mode!"

A doll in a blue dress with long blonde appears.

"A, doll?" Sartorious asks.

"That's right, this card was, lets say, a gift," Katie says. "I'll end my turn with two cards face down."

Sartorious draws. "I summon, Arcana ForceVII, the Chariot (1700/1700), in attack mode!" He says, and an oddly shaped monster appears, and then the card appears over his head. "Now, my monster will turn in a full circle, and when you say stop, the position of the monster will give it an effect," he explains, and the card begins turning.

Katie watches the card for a second before saying, "Stop!"

The card stops, facing downwards.

"Its in reverse, which means that when its destroyed, its summoned to your side of the field in defense mode," Sartorious says. "Now, attack her doll!"

The chariot charges at Alice, but Katie smirks as the attack connects, and her life points fall to 3300, but Alice still stands, then Sartorious' life points fall to 3500.

"What happened?" He demands.

"Alice cannot be destroyed as a result of battle," Katie says. "When the opponent attacks, I still take damage, but then the opponent loses 500, and thats not all that happens..."

Alice suddenly floats over to Sartorious' side of the field.

"Alice switches to your side of the field, and now thanks to my field card, I can summon my Doll Part Blue (0/0) to the field in defense mode!"

The head of a doll appears on the field.

"Fine, but I can still attack your Doll part with your own Alice, so thats what I'll do!" Sartorious says, and the doll blasts the doll head to oblivion.

"Go trap card, Necro-Doll Meiser!" Katie says, and her trap card flips up. "Since you destroyed my Doll Part, I can summon two more from my deck, so welcome Doll-Part Red (0/0)..."

Doll legs appears.

"And Doll-Part Gold (0/0)!"

Doll arms appears.

"And I'll also activate my trap card, Soul Resurrection, which lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard in defense mode, and I'll pick, naturally my Doll-Part Blue (0/0)!"

The head appears.

"Where the heck did she get these cards?" Darren asks.

"To be honest, she never told me," Wendy says. "She just told me that they showed up by her bedside one day."

_That is true,_ Katie thinks. _But if I told Wendy the truth, she might think I was crazy. After all, its not everyday a living doll gives you Duel Monsters cards._

"One card face down, your move, Katie," Sartorious says.

Katie draws. "I'll have my Gold piece attack Alice!" Katie commands, and the piece charges at Alice, but is knocked back, and Katie's life points fall to 1800. "But now, I get Alice back, so I can summon my Doll Part Pink!"

The body segment of a doll appears.

"And I'll then activate Monster Reborn, and revive my Doll Part Gold!"

The arms appear again.

"Okay, mind if I ask what the point of all of this is?" Sartorious asks with a growl.

"You'll see in a minute, because I activate the spell card, Burial of the Marionette!" Katie says, and the four doll parts vanish. "To use this card, I have to sacrifice my 4 doll parts, and I can summon this, my mighty Doll Chimera (0/0)!"

The monsters fuse together, and form a huge doll monster walking on four legs, and with long brown hair.

"Impressive, but what's the point of all this?" Sartorious asks.

"Doll Chimera is the embodiment of all the toys discarded by selfish children who just want more toys," Katie says. "And when they eventually grow tired of the toys they get then, they beg for more, and discard what they got, and the cycle continues. However, my Chimera brings vengence on anyone who does this, and shows favor to those who love their toys, like I always have, and will continue to do, thats why the Chimera trusts me. In game terms, the Doll Chimera gains 400 attack points for every monster with "doll part" in its name thats in my graveyard!"

The Chimera's attack goes up to 1600.

"It was my toys that saved me from going mad while I was a child. When I was only 8, I had no friends, Yumi wasn't born yet, and my parents where always busy, but then something happened that I'll never forget. I recieved a package, it was labeled as being from Jaden Yuki, considered the second King of Games, and inside was a doll, with the name Alice inscribed on the plaque. I immediately took a liking to her, she was like the friend I never had, and kept me company while my parents where away."

She smiles a little.

"Then the night before my 9th birthday, something happened that I'll never forget for as long as I'll live. Alice visited me in what seemed to be a dream, she was alive, a spirit of sorts. She thanked me for my kindness, and said that it was time for her to pass on, I was sad, but she told me that I would soon get more friends, and that we'd meet again, and she gave me this deck to remember her bye. And she was right, a week later I met Wendy when she came in to buy some cards. Then Renee and Darren, and recently Ariel and Marie, now I have many friends, but I'll never forget Alice, and what she did for me, and now I'm going to beat you, and make it to the finals of this tournament in her memory!"

"How touching, but your monster is too weak to destroy mine!" Sartorious points out.

"I know, so I'll end my turn with two cards face down," Katie says.

"I wonder why Katie never told us about that stuff," Darren wonders out loud.

"Maybe because we'd think she was crazy," Marie points out. "Then again, I've seen a lot of weird things, so I wouldn't be suprised, come to think of it, its more normal than anything we faced a few years ago, right Ariel?"

Ariel nods.

"Alright, my turn," Sartorious says and draws. "Well, since I can't attack your Alice without huring my own life points, my Chariot will attack your Chimera!"

The chariot charges through the Doll Chimera, but Katie's life points don't change, and the Chimera returns.

"By discarding two doll parts from my deck..." Katie says, showing another Doll part Blue and Doll Part Pink. "I can bring back my Doll Chimera, and on top of that, she gains 800 more attack points since I have two more doll parts in my graveyard! And thanks to my Spirit Barrier trap card, I don't take any damage!"

"I'll end my turn by summoning my Knight of Pentacles (1000/1000), in defense mode, and I'm sure you remember how the effects of my monsters work," Sartorious says, and a knight appears on the field, then the card appears above him again, and begins to rotate.

"Stop!" Katie shouts, and it stops upright.

"Fine, now my monster can't be destroyed as a result of battle," Sartorious says, motioning to say he ends his turn.

Katie draws. "Chimera, attack his monster with Toyland Revenge attack!" She commands, and the chimera smashes through the chariot, dropping Sartorious' life points to 2600.

"Fine, but thanks to the effect of the Chariot, its summoned to your field in defense mode!" Sartorious says, and the chariot appears on Katie's side of the field.

"I know, and thats why I'm going to activate this card, its called Share the Pain!" Katie says.

"Share the Pain? What's that do?" Sartorious asks.

"It destroys one monster on both of our sides of the field, so the Chariot and your knight are both destroyed!" Katie says, and the two monsters are stabbed by a sword, and are destroyed. "Your move."

Sartorious draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," he says.

Katie draws. "I'm sorry, Sartorious, but this is going to have to end now, I'm activating my Deckmaster's special ability, this effect can only be used once per duel, but I pay 1000 life points..." she says, and her life points fall to 800. "And I can discard up to 10 cards in my deck," she says, and shows 10 cards, all are more copies of the Doll pieces. "Since I have a total of 16 Doll pieces in my graveyard, my monster is now at 4800!" She says, and the chimera grows larger and uglier, reaching 4800 attack points. "And now, I'll activate my spell card, the Door to Mirrorland-Silver Arch, by sacrificing Alice, I can summon her sister, Ecila the Dainty Bisque Doll (1000/1000)!"

The doll dissapears, and a doll with brown hair, a frilly red dress, and a hat appears.

"And, since I have 3 copies of all the Doll Parts in my graveyard, she gains 3000 attack points."

The doll's attack rises, and stops at 4000.

"And she'll destroy your face down monster!"

Ecila destroys the face down card, which is revealed to be a Sangan, Sartorious takes a card out of his deck.

"Now Doll Chimera, finish this duel!"

The doll monster charges at Sartorious, and his life points fall to 0.

"Very good, Katie," Sartorious says with a smile, and hands Katie the Time Key. "I will tell you this before you go, if you succeed in defeating Doppler, your adventures will continue on, Doppler is only the beginning."

Katie nods, and they walk to the end of the room, and unlock the door.

"Now its time, Doppler, don't expect any mercy!" Katie says as they enter the doorway.

Yami smiles while looking at Katie.

_Katie sure has matured since I first met her, she's deffinately going to be a great help in this whole thing,_ he thinks.

**00000**

"Servant!" Doppler shouts.

"Yes, mistress?" A servant says, running in, and Doppler blasts him to bits.

"I needed that," she mutters. _The Elemental Masters was a flop, not even Sartorious could win, and he put in his best effort, but he lost to a bunch of dolls, dolls! Lucifer is not going to let me live this one down._

**00000**

_Sartorious' cards will be used by himself throughout the second season of GX._

_Katie's deck was used by Alice in episode 80._

_Satonryu created the deckmaster ability for Sand Gambler._

**00000**

_**Malice Doll of Demise-Doll Destruction: Once per duel, pay 1000 life points to send up to 10 cards in your deck to the graveyard.**_

**00000**

_**Katie may or may not be dueling using the Doll deck again, that will be up to you folks, but Alice herself may make an apperance in a later fanfiction.**_

_**Well, the Elemental Masters saga is over, and while it was interesting, we can finally get to the finals.**_

_**Next chapter, Katie and her friends arrive in the inner sanctum where they learn who will duel who in the finals. What is the tournament match-ups? Find out in, "Destiny Draw."**_


	45. Destiny Draw

_You saw as Katie and her friends made it through the first round of the tournaments, and then the pre-finals tests set down by Doppler._

_Now its the night before the finals, and everything is starting to go downhill._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with Yu-Gi-Oh, just the plot of this fanfiction and its carachters._

**000**

_**Well, this is it, everything we've worked for comes down to this.**_

_**I should've known that something bad was comming when Ariel Kaiba, daughter of my father's former rival, came to my door with the last piece of the Millenium Puzzle, and when I first met Lord Tucker, who deffinately had something weird about him from the beginning.**_

_**Then came Lumis and Umbra, they where fairly easy to beat, Robolady and Roboyaru where a little harder, but we prevailed anway, through the power of team work.**_

_**Now I'm watching uneasingly as the tournament finals begin, and the final war in this tournament will be decided.**_

_**Godspeed to us all.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 45:**

**DESTINY DRAW**

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**00000**

After finally getting through Sartorious and his Tarot cards, the 6 duelists find themselves in an elaborate dining room in the dark castle.

Seated at one edge of the table is the B.E.S Duelist Darius Steel, and across from him, the famous, or infamous, depending on who you talk to, Aster Phoenix.

"Hey Darius!" Renee says, taking a seat next to the machine duelist. "In the finals too, I see."

"Yep, but you should've seen this one duelist I faced, he turned me into a duel monster and forced me to duel him," Darius says.

"What was it?" Katie asks.

"I was turned into a Solar Flare Dragon, it kinda suprised me, even though the monsters appeared in the Gradius games that my B.E.S monsters are based off of, I never put one in my deck," Darius says. "But its ability turned out to be more usefull than I thought. The duelist didn't look too intimidating, a guy called Monster Tamer, but he took me by suprise."

It occured to Katie that the Spirit Eliminators must have dueled other duelists, but she shrugged it off.

"His monsters where weird, they where called the Jewel Beasts, and hard to follow, but I won in the end," Darius says, taking a sip of a soda. "What about you, Phoenix, do you have any interesting stories to tell?"

"More than you know," Aster says, and shrugs. "Well, I did also face a duel monster, I think it was that old card the Reaper of the Cards, very creepy, he used some sort of strategy used by Panik."

Katie shivers a little, she had heard about Panik, and the name gave her the chills.

Panik was an eliminator at the Duelist Kingdom tournament, that had managed to eliminate Mai Valentine from the tournament, but Yugi defeated him by having his own strategy come crashing down on him.

Naturaly, this was before the rules where changed about several cards, back during the dark ages as some duelists call the time before Battle City, and then everything changed.

They start eating, and after awhile, a man in a suit and glasses enters the dinning room, and adresses the group.

"Congradulations duelists, out of the over 300 Duelists invited to compete in this tournament, you 8 have proven yourself as the best of the best," the man says. "I am Smith, Miss. Pegasus' head of security, and I will be informing you of the duel matches."

A screen lowers down, and images of the 8 duelists appear, and shuffle around before stopping with the pictures of Katie and Marie."

"The first duel will be Katie Motou Vs. Marie Huebner."

"Well, Marie, its you and me," Katie says with a smile at Marie who is sitting across from her.

"I'm looking forward to this duel," Marie says, and Katie nods.

The screen stops again, this time the two pictures are Aster and Darren.

"The second duel will be between Darren Masters and Aster Phoenix."

_Wow, my first major tournament, and I'm already dueling one of the best in the world,_ Darren thinks.

Two more pictures form together, this time of Renee and Darius.

"The third duel will be between Renee Lords and Darius Steel. By default, the final match of the quarter finals shall be between Wendy Wheeler and Ariel Kaiba," Smith says, and the screen pulls up. "Before the Quarter Finals, there will be a Battle Royale duel between the winners of these duels, details will be given at that time."

_Darius wasn't hard to beat last time we dueled, but I'm sure that now the finals have begun, he'll step up his game quite a bit more, _Renee thinks.

_Alright, if I'm going to advance in this tournament, I'm going to have to beat someone that's not only one of the best duelists in the world, but my own cousin,_ Wendy thinks.

"Then its decided, tomorrow at 10:00 sharp, Katie Motou will duel Marie Huebner in the first match of the finals, you should use this night to prepare for what is to come in the morning," Smith says. "Also, you will find a rare Duel Monsters card in each of your rooms for your use, if you desire to use it."

He nods, and exits the room, and speaks into a radio. "Everything's in place, Mistress Doppler," he says.

"Excelent, Smith," the cold voice on the other end says.

**000**

In her room, Katie is lying on her bed staring at the card she got.

Its a dark Spellcaster called Sorceress of Shadows, and she's not sure what to make of it.

_This card is strong, sure, but I don't know if I should use it just yet,_ she thinks to herself.

_"I'm sure you'll make the decision when the time comes,"_ Yami says, placing his hand on her shoulder, and Katie nods.

**000**

Wendy on the other hand is sitting on her bed wearing a martial arts _gi_ in a metitative trance of sorts, being without a spirit companion, she had no one to talk to but herself.

_This card might come in handy,_ she thinks, looking at the card named "Destroy Defense." _It feels kinda weird, since I saw Roboyaru and Robolady use it against Katie, but I'll manage._

**000**

Renee on the other hand is lying on her bed, talking with a spiritual version of Aitos.

_"Grandmaul,"_ Aitos says. _"Not exactly the most popular of the Guardians, if you could call it that."_

_"Yeah,"_ Renee says, looking at the card with a sigh. _"Well, its got good stats, and it might come in handy against Darius."_

Aitos nods.

**000**

Darren is already fast asleep.

**000**

Marie is lying awake on her bed, having already put away her card. Her black trench coat is discarded off to the side, revealing her pale, yet fine-toned arms, she sighs.

_If only I could live a normal life with a normal family as a normal girl,_ she thinks, running her hand through her long auburn hair. _But I'll never have a normal life until I'm accepted for who and what I am, and knowing the track record of the human race, that won't happen anytime soon. For now I'll have to manage, and prove that in Duel Monsters, mutants can duel with the best of them._

**000**

The next morning, after breakfast, the 8 finalists are in the main lobby of the castle, where they meet up with Victoria Pegasus.

"Welcome finalists, I'm sorry I couldn't join you for dinner last night, but I was securing some, special guests for you," she says, and a door behind her opens, and in walks the families of some of the finalists.

Yugi and Tea embrace Katie giving her a smile, and congradulating her on making it to the finals.

"I knew you would make it," Yugi says, ruffling his daughter's hair.

"We're very proud of you, Katherine," Tea says.

"Mom, I told you to call me Katie," Katie says sheepishly.

Wendy is talking with Joey and Mai, who are trying to hold back their excitement.

Renee and Rafael are talking off to the side in rapid french, obviously having a heated argument.

Ariel's visit with her mom and dad (Seto and Serenity), was very brief, her mom saying how proud she was, and Kaiba, even though his daughter had made it to the finals of one of the biggest tournaments in history, just nods.

Marie is talking with a woman who looks like an older version of herself.

After half-an hour, an announcement comes over the loudspeaker:

"Will Katie Motou and Marie Huebner report to the main dueling arena for the first round of the finals, all other competitors and visitors can watch from the balcony!" Smith's voice says.

"Well, this is it," Marie says, and Katie nods as they all walk into the arena area.

**000**

_**Well, the finals are beginning, and things will just get more interesting from here.**_

_**Next chapter, Marie and Katie go at it in round one. Can Katie defeat the fabled Queen of Exodia? Find out in, "Contract With Exodia."**_

_**Don't miss it, because we ain't waiting for you.**_


	46. Contract With Exodia

_Well, this is it, everything so far has gotten down to these next few chapters, enjoy._

_Disclaimer: You'd think that after 46 chapters of this fanfiction, I'd finally be recognized for my creative genius and own Yu-Gi-Oh, but nooo, its still not mine! Nor do I own Tenative, which is a song by System of a Down._

**000**

_**When I first met Marie Huebner, she was an interesting duelist to say the least, she dueled Wendy, but the duel had to be ended in a tie. Though I was suprised to learn, that like me, she has a spiritual companion, a high priestess that inhabits her Millenium Locket.**_

_**She was a great help when we dueled against Lumis and Umbra, and in the end it was our teamwork that won it for us.**_

_**I knew that someday it would come down to a duel between me and her.**_

_**Well, I hope I can win this duel.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 46:**

**CONTRACT WITH EXODIA**

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**00000**

"Introducing our first duelist, standing at 4 foot 9 inches and weighing 99 pounds, hailing from Dommino City Japan in the United Asian States, the Princess of games, Katie Motou!" Victoria says, and Katie walks into the cheers of her friends and family, from which she waves back. Ariel and Serenity wave, but Kaiba just gives her an acknowlegeing nod. "And Katie will be dueling with a deck she has named, _**Dark Sorcerory!"**_

On one end of the room, the Dark Magician appears spinning his staff.

"And our next duelist, standing at 5 foot 2 inches and weighing 95 pounds, haling from Bayville New York in the United North American States, the Queen of Exodia, Marie Huebner! Victoria says, and there is a huge puff of smoke, and Marie does a twirl and a flip in the air before making a perfect landing on her side of the field. "And Marie will be dueling with a dek she has named, _**Prayer to the Forbidden Gods**_!"

Exodia towers behind her. The two spellcasters send their respectfull attacks at eachother, and they connect, letting out small fireworks.

"Alright Marie, this is it, all our experiences in this tournament have lead up to this moment, we must prove which of us is the better strategist if one of us is to defeat Doppler," Katie says, and Marie nods.

"I've been wanting to duel you for awhile now, Katie, now lets see who is better, the Princess of games, or the Queen of Exodia!" Marie says with a laugh. "After all, in title, I outrank you."

"Title means nothing, this is a duel, and now I will prove that I really am as good as you, Marie. I might not own my own Duel Monsters Company, or be the champion of the UNAS, but I have faith in my deck, and in my heart," Katie says, and Marie smiles. "Tell me Marie, why do you duel?"

"I duel to be understood, sure Joseph Strongheim promotes understanding between humans and mutants, even going so far as to insult me by letting him work for him, but I see through those lies, and you should to," Marie says.

"What do you know about Potentate Strongheim?" Katie asks.

"Only that he is the embodyment of Pure Evil, he is the Antichrist," Marie says, and then Victoria speaks up before she can say anything else.

"Before we begin, let me explain an element of this dueling arena, its called the Arena Roulette," Victoria says, standing up. "The main computer of the Duelist Dimension will select a special setting for this arena. Normaly this will have no effect on the duel, but some arenas will be dangerous for your monsters in some ways, so be carefull."

The arena around them begins glowing, and suddenly they find themselves in what looks like a tropical island, with picturesqe scenery, and a huge volcano emerging above the trees

"Ahh yes, one of my favorites, the _**Shadows of Krakatoa**_!" Victoria says as the two girls glance around nervously. "Now girls, present your deckmasters."

Marie looks through her deck, and nods. "I pick, my Mind on Air!" She says, and a bizare-looking female spellcaster with a dome-like head appears next to her.

"I'll pick, my Dark Magician Girl!" Katie says, and the beautiful female spellcaster appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Katie says and draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place one card face down to end my turn.

Marie draws. "I'm going to activate my Deckmaster's ability, Psychic Vision, I show you one card in my hand," she says, and shows Katie a monster she recognizes as her Volvagia, the Subteranian Lava Dragon. "And in exchange I can flip your face down monster into face-up defense mode!"

The monster is revealed to be a Mystical Elf.

"And now, I special summon my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!" Marie says, and a metalic serpentine dragon appears.

"Wait, what is that?" Joey says, looking confused, which is nothing really new.

"To be honest Joey... I have no idea," Yugi says. "I've never heard of it."

"I have," Kaiba says. "The Cyber Dragon monsters are supposed to be very hard to use, but when they are, they're quite powerful, and I'm sure Marie knows what she's doing."

"Now, I'll summon my A Man With a Wjdat (1500/1600), in attack mode!" Marie says, and a robed spellcaster appears. "Now, I can use his special effect to look at your face down card without activating it."

Katie's face down card is revealed to be a Mirror Force.

"I'll have to be more careful. I'll end my turn by playing my Spell Economics card."

Katie draws. "I summon my White Magician Pikeru (1200/0), in attack mode!" She says, and a cute girl in a sheep outfit appears. "Now, I'll equip her with Trial of the Princess, she'll gain 800 attack points, and if I destroy a level six monster, like your Cyber Dragon, I can special summon a certain monster from my deck."

"I know how it works, but your monster still dosen't have enough attack points," Marie points out.

"Oh, you're right of course, I guess I'll have to change that, and I have just the card to do that, I activate Rush Recklessly, which raises her attack to 2700, now attack!" Katie commands, and Pikeru blasts the Cyber Dragon with a blast of white magic. "Now, I can summon Princess Pikeru from my deck!"

Pikeru grows older (2000/0).

"I'll end my turn with two cards face down," Katie says.

Marie draws. "I'll play Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards. "And now, I'll finish my combo, first, I activate Convulsion of Nature!"

Thunder crashes around them, the volcano seems to erupt, the waves crash around, that sort of thing.

"Umm, what's the point of this?" Katie asks.

"Thanks to the effect of this card, our decks are both flipped upside-down," Marie says, and both decks flip up. "And to finish my combo, I'll activate Archfiend's Oath!"

A tablet appears behind her.

"Now, thanks to this card, I can guess what my next card is, and if I'm right, I get to draw it, but thanks to my Convulsion of Nature, I can't guess wrong, and usualy I'd pay 500 life points, but thanks to my Spell Economics, I pay nothing. Anyway, I'll guess that..." she says, looking at her deck. "My next card is the Spell of Polar Opposites."

She picks the card up off her deck, and shows it, adding it to her hand.

"I'll switch my Man With Wjdat to defense mode, and set a monster in defense mode and one card face down to end my turn."

Katie draws, and her life points go up to 5600. "I'll summon my Neo the Magical Swordsman to the field (1700/1000) in attack mode!" She says, and a warrior spellcaster appears. "Pikeru, destroy her A Man With Wjdat!"

The spellcaster is blown away.

"Now Neo, attack her face down monster!"

Neo blasts the face down card, which is a young child, the attack bounces off.

"That was my Chikua, he can't be destroyed as a result of battle," Marie says with a laugh.

"Fine, your move," Katie says.

Marie draws. "I special summon another Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!" She says, and the metalic dragon appears again. "Now, I activate the spell card Monster Reborn to revive the first one!" She says, and the first Cyber Dragon appears. "And I'll use my combo, and guess that my next card is my Polymerization card," she says, and shows the card as a Polymerization. "So I'll use it, and fuse together my two Cyber Dragons!"

The two monsters fuse, and a twin-headed cyber dragon appears.

"To summon the mighty Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100), and I'll get rid of your face down card with Mystical Space Typhoon!" She continues, and a wind blows away Katie's Mirror Force. "I'll then activate Card of Sanctitity," she says, and they both draw until they have 6 cards.. "And I'll activate Dark Core, and discard this card to get rid of your monster!" She finishes, and Valkyria goes away. "Now attack Pikeru with Double Strident Blast!" Marie commands, and the machine dragon blasts the princess, and Katie's life points fall to 4900. "And since it can attack twice, she'll attack again!"

The dragon blasts again, and the Mystical Elf is destroyed.

"And I'll now play, De-Fusion, which will summon back my two Cyber Dragons!" Marie says, and the machine dragons appears again. "And, they'll attack you directly, with Strident Blast!"

The two machine dragons blast at Katie, and she gasps as her life points fall all the way to 700.

"Your move Katie, but if you're gonna win now, it'll take a miracle to win," Marie says.

Katie draws. _Alright, its a good thing I added this monster to my deck,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Marie draws. "I'll summon my Dunames Dark Witch (1800/1050)!" She says, and a fairy monster appears. "Now attack her face down monster with shadow flux!"

The fairy sends a blast of black magic, and hits the face down monster.

"This duel is almost over," Marie says with a grin.

"Wrong, look at the monster you attacked!" Katie says, and Marie gasps, a metalic grinning jar appears where the face down monster was, and sucks in every monster.

"A Cyber Jar!" Marie says shocked.

"Now we each have to draw 5 cards, and summon any level four or lower monsters we draw," Katie says, and picks up 5 cards off her deck. "Alright, I'll summon two monsters, Sangan (1000/600) in defense mode and Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!"

A three-eyed fiend and a spellcaster appears.

Marie looks over her 5 cards. _Only one monster I can summon, but it'll do,_ she thinks, taking a card out of her hand. "I'll summon, Cyber Stein (700/500), in attack mode, and I'll use my combo again, guessing my next card is my second Polymerization!" she says, and a frankenstein-like monster appears onto the field as she draws one card. "And since its still my turn, I'll activate Emergency Provisions, and I'll get rid of my 4 spell/trap cards in order to gain 4000 life points!" She says, and the spell cards vanish, and her life points rise to 8000.

"Not bad," Kaiba says. "She didn't have enough life points for her monster's effect before, but this should help her, I think Katie might be in trouble."

"Alright, Katie, I hate to do this, but I'm now activating the special ability of my Cyber Stein, by paying 5000 life points, I can special summon a fusion monster from my graveyard!" She says, and her life points fall to 3000.

Suddenly, the huge three-headed form of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) emerges onto the field.

"But, that's not all, I activate the spell card, Polymerization, and I'll use it to fuse my Ultimate Dragon, with this..." Marie says, showing a Black Luster Solider in her hand.

"She's not going to summon what I think she is..." Yugi says.

"I'm afraid so, Yugi," Kaiba mutters.

"Now, I summon, the all-powerfull, _**Master of Dragon Soldier **_(5000/5000 + 1000)!" she says, and a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon appears with the Black Luster Soldier riding its back. "I'll end my turn with one card face down."

Katie draws. _Well, I can't do much else,_ she thinks "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and switch my monsters to defense mode," she says, and Sangan and Skilled Black Magician kneel in defense mode. "One card face down, you're move, Marie."

Marie draws. _Dragon Revival Ritual, this will come in handy once I get the right monsters,_ she thinks, placing it in her hand. "Alright, I'll now activate my Deckmaster's ablity," she says, and shows Katie a card in her hand, the Right Arm of Exodia. "And in return, I can see your face down card!" She says, and the face down card is revealed to be a Sakuretsu Armor. "Now I'll..."

Suddenly the Volcano behind them suddenly errupts, spewing lava all over the field, and hitting the two duelists.

"Sorry about that, this field's effect it activates at total random, mostly all it does is half both player's life points," Victoria says, and Marie's life points fall to 1500 while Katie's fall to 350.

"Man, this has to be one of the closest duels I've seen all tournament, and neither of them are letting up!" Darren says, Renee nods.

_Katie has a good fighting spirit, the odds are way in Marie's favor, but she may still find a way to turn the tide,_ Wendy thinks, looking over both fields. _And not to mention, Master of Dragon Soldier is probably only one of many powerful monsters she has._

"Anyway, I'm going to summon Gemini Elf (1900/900), in attack mode!" she says, and twin elves appear. "And while I'm at it, just in case you draw anything funny, I play Monster Reborn on my Chikua and summon him in defense mode," she says, and the young spellcaster appears again. "I'll end my turn by equipping him with Ring of Magnetism, sure he loses 500 defense points, but you can only attack him, and..."

"He can't be destroyed in battle," Katie finishes.

"And even if you had a monster with a trample effect, I take no damage from battles with him in it, so I'll place one card face down, and end my turn," Marie finishes.

Katie draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn," she says.

_Come on Katie, I know you can overcome this,_ Ariel thinks, looking down at the arena, and then over at her parents. _When I dueled Katie the first time, I was holding back, I hate to admit it, but I know that we'll duel again, and when that time comes, there's no holding back, one of us must win this tournament. Its a good thing that I made some changes to my deck, to deal with, her more dangerous monsters._

Marie draws. "Alright, I'll start with my Elves, destroy her face down monster!" She commands, and the spellcasters send twin blasts at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a wizened old wizard. "What was that?"

"That was my Old Vindictive Magician, and even with all his strength, your Master of Dragon soldier is still susceptible to his special ability!" Katie says, and the magician blasts the Dragonrider, who bursts into pixels, making Marie cringe.

"Alright, I'm impressed, but this game isn't over yet," she says. "I'll place one card face down to end my turn."

_Alright, Motou, lets see if you're really as good as Ariel told me,_ Kaiba thinks with a smirk. _She may have destroyed the Master of Dragon Soldier, but I doubt that she'll be able to beat whatever Marie has in store for her next._

_Come on Katie, just believe in the Heart of the Cards, and you'll win,_ Yugi thinks.

"KATIE, JUST BELIEVE, I KNOW YOU CAN WIN!" Darren suddenly shouts to the Motou daughter.

Katie smiles, and gives them the thumbs up as she draws. _All right, this will work,_ she thinks. "I activate my spell card, Pot of Charity, by removing my Mystical Elf from the game, I can draw 3 cards," she says, and the elf is sucked into the Golden Pot of Greed, and Katie draws three cards. "Now, I'll activate my Lightning Vortex spell card," she says, and discards a Sinister Serpent card from her hand. "Now, I can destroy all face up monsters you have on the field!" She says, and lightning rains down on the two monsters, and they're destroyed.

"Lucky break," Marie says.

Katie glances at another one of the cards in her hand. "I'll end my turn with one card face down," she says.

Marie draws. "Alright, I'm going to summon my Manju of the 10,000 hands, so I can add a ritual spell or ritual monster card to my hand," she says, and takes a card out of her deck. "And now, I activate my spell card, Deckmaster Swap, so for one turn, our deckmasters trade places," she says, and the Dark Magician appears on her side, and Mind on Air appeared on Katie's side. "Now, I can use her effect, but don't worry, you'll be able to use it, and I can draw one card for every monster in my graveyard, which totals, 10," she says, and draws until her hand totals 10 cards. "Alright Katie, time to lose, I activate the ritual card, Doriado's Blessings, I'll sacrifice my Manju, to summon this monster, Elemental Mistress Doriado (1200/1400)!" She says, and a female spellcaster appears.

"Uhh, I'm confused, what's the point of this?" Joey says, looking as confused as usual.

"Oh no," Serenity says. "Seto, don't you remember this combo, from the tournament?"

Kaiba pauses for a moment, and then his eyes grow wide. "You're right, Katie's in trouble.

"What? What is she doing? Care to fill me in, sis?" Joey asks, looking even more confused.

"It'll become apparent in a second, Wheeler," Kaiba says.

"Alright, now I activate my Premature Burial spell, to revive my Cyber Stein at the price of 800 life points," she says, and her life points fall to 700, and the Frankenstein monster appears.

"Uhh, why did she do that? Her life points are much too low for her to use its effect," Joey says. "And besides, that cost her even more life points, now she's only in the lead by 350."

"She's got a plan," Katelyn, Marie's mother, says. "She knows what she's doing, after all, I taught her everything she knows."

_No wonder Marie's so good, Katelyn Adams was a World Champion for a few years, which ended when Seto Kaiba entered the circuit, and Marie's learned a lot from her, so its safe to say that she will have a powerful strategy coming up,_ Wendy thinks.

"Ready to lose Katie, I activate this card, Dragon Revival Ritual!" Marie says, and a huge pentagram appears on her side of the field. "This mighty ritual requires me to sacrifice a monster of Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Darkness, and it just so happens I have the right monsters on the field now!"

"What's she talking about? She only has 2 monsters on the field, one's light, and one's dark," Joey says, scratching his head.

"Joey, its not that simple, Marie has the right monsters on the field to do it without that many restrictions," Serenity says. "Remember I told you about that Tag Team tournament I competed in a few years ago with Seto? Well, we faced a pair of duelists who used this combo, so we know how it works."

Ariel looks over at Aster. "It's been awhile, Phoenix," she says.

"I know," Aster says. "A little too long since we last dueled, but I assure you, our next duel will not end like our last 5 did."

"Now since I activated my Dragon Revival Ritual spell card, I can sacrifice my Cyber Stein, and my Elemental Mistress Doriado!" Marie says, and the two monsters vanish into the pentagram. "And since Doriado has the attributes of Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth, I have the proper elements to summon the mighty, _**Five Gods Dragon**_!"

A huge dark shape appears from the pentagram. It's a huge dragon with a golden body, and a head of fire, earth, wind, water, and darkness.

_I remember my dad telling me about that monster, he faced it a total of three times,_ Katie thinks, looking in fear at the huge dragon. _Yeah, first it was against the Big 5 in Kaiba's Virtual world, he had to combine forces with Seto Kaiba to defeat it and summon the Master of Dragon Soldier. Then was against the Big 5 in Noah's virtual world, Joey had to help that time, and he used the Mirage Knight that time. And then it was in the Capsule Monsters thing, he had to combine with the Blue-Eyes to form armor for that one, the worst part is, I don't have anything like that. I only beat its fusion counterpart with Ariel's help, and the Mirage Knight, but now I don't know._

"This duel is over, since I summoned my Five Gods Dragon, all your cards are automaticaly destroyed!" Marie says, and the dragon sends a blast of energy at Katie's field, and her side is empty.

_Oh no, Katie! _Yugi thinks.

"Now F.G.D, finish her off, Pentacle Holocaust!" Marie commands, and the dragon blasts Katie, who screams as the blast hits her.

But her life points stay at 350.

"What? But how!" Marie demands.

"Remember that monster I set?" Katie asks, taking a card out of her graveyard, and showing it. "It was my Winged Kuriboh, and since you destroyed him, I take no damage this turn."

"Fine, but you won't win next time, I'll activate Infinite Cards, and place two cards face down, your move!" Marie says.

Katie draws, and the deckmasters return to their positions. _Hey, my Magic Cylinder trap, unless she draws something to destroy this card, Marie's going to lose on this next turn,_ she thinks. "I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Marie draws. _Okay, knowing Katie, that face down card is probably her Magic Cylinder, but I don't have anything that can destroy it right now, I'll have to increase my forces, but I don't have any monsters I can use right now,_ she thinks. "I'll pass this turn."

Katie draws. _Perfect,_ she thinks. "This duel is over, I'm going to remove from the game, my Princess Pikeru and Old Vindictive Magician, to summon Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!" She says, and a warrior with navy and gold armor appears.

"Are you kidding? That's in attack mode, and I'll finish you off next turn, but even so, I might as well show you something," Marie says, and takes a card out of her hand. "This is my Fairy Meteor Crush, even if you somehow get your monster into defense mode, I'll win next turn! Unless that last card in your hand is..."

"This? The equip spell, Megamorph!" She says, and suddenly the Black Luster Soldier doubles in size.

**00000**

It's amazing how much the world can change in a single moment.

At the moment that Katie equipped her soldier with Megamorph, Marie had moved her hand towards her face down card, and was prepared to activate it, but something stopped her.

_God, I know its not my job to stop this first atrocity of Lucifer, but I want to win this duel, if there is no reason for me to do so, then please, give me a sign,_ she thinks in silent prayer, Mira next to her nods.

Then a third spiritual form joins them, this one is an older woman with graying auburn hair, but still had that prominent white streak in her bangs, but she is wearing a white cloak, and looks at Marie with kind green eyes, she places her hand on Marie's

_"Rogue, sorry, Grandma,"_ Marie says in shock, remembering that her Grandmother had been one of those called up to Heaven in the Rapture.

_"Marie, I've come to help your decision, God has heard your prayer, and has sent me to help," _Rogue replies, giving her a smile. _"Your a believer now, I see, a Tribulation Saint!"_

_"Most of us are in the family, and Seto Kaiba even became a believer,"_ Marie says, getting a look of surprise from her grandmother.

_"Hah, the infamous Seto Kaiba now finally admits that he was wrong about that, but make sure that your, Fiancé is it now? Paul? Is a believer before the 3 1/2 year mark," _Rogue tells her.

_"Yeah," _Marie says. _"Grandma, tell me, what would happen if I activated my face down card right now?" _Marie asks, and shows the card to her spiritual grandmother.

_"Interesting card. Fine, if you win this duel, you will take on the responsibility of being the Hero of the Dimension, and defeat the 3 terrors of Lucifer, starting with the one you are familiar with, Doppler,"_ Rogue replies. _"If you are to lose, Katie will fulfill her destiny as the hero of the generations, and as a Hunaphu. Its a gene that you have as well, Marie, only one with the Hunaphu gene can control a Millennium Item, old Osiris was a genius when he made that rule about the Millennium Items."_

"Which means, Katie is Hunaphu too?" Marie asks.

_"Yes, either way, an Hunaphu will continue the legacy and defeat Doppler, and those that follow her, including an enemy you fight almost daily," _Rogue says.

_"Strongheim, if I win, I will defeat Strongheim at Armageddon and the Glorious Appearing, but if I lose, it will be Katie's job to defeat him,"_ Marie thinks.

_"There is one other Hunaphu in these finals, Ariel Kaiba,"_ Rogue tells her.

_"Alright, I've made my decision,"_ Marie thinks, and moves her hand away from the face down card, and gives Katie a nod. "Go ahead."

"But, you're face down card!" Katie says,

Marie notices that Rogue was gone; she smiled, and made the symbol cross in the air, and falls to her knees in prayer.

"Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. They kingdom come, thy will be done, as on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen," she says.

Katie looks up at the balcony where she sees a hidden figure recoiling at the words. _No demon, from Hell or not, can withstand the power of God,_ she thinks with a smile.

"All right Katie, go ahead, finish it," Marie says.

"But your face down card, isn't it a trap?" Katie asks.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to show you what was next," Marie says, giving Katie a smile, and activating her trap card, its her The Reality Bug. "Well, just for the heck of it, lets look into your worst fear," she says, and then suddenly a zombie with skulls surroundind it appears. "Of course, the Ryu Kokki, attacking him means instant death for your Spellcasters."

"I know," Katie says. "Now Black Luster Soldier, attack her Dragon with Chaos Sword!"

The soldier swings his sword, and charges at the dragon, who lets out a final roar before being split right down the middle.

"Good duel, Marie, I hope we duel again," Katie says when the holograms fade, and the familiar arena appears.

"Me too, Katie, me too," Marie says, while gathering her cards.

"And the winner of this duel, by a mere 350 life points, Katie Motou, who will advance to the next round!" Smith says.

"Yay, Katie won!" Tea says, jumping for joy.

_Marie did well, but I'm just glad Katie could win,_ Yugi thinks, Ariel just smiles knowingly, gripping the Millennium Eye around her neck.

"Marie, what about your other face down card?" Katie asks.

"Nothing major," Marie replies, but sighs, taking the card out of its slot, and looking at it. _Spell Shield Type-8, I could've won if I used this card._

"There will be a 10 minute intermission between the duels, and then Aster Phoenix shall duel Darren Masters!" Victoria says. "In the meantime, we have some music for all of you to enjoy."

The arena activates again as Katie and Marie return to the balcony.

The sound of a now old, but barely forgetful hard rock song is heard as a Rock band with members dressed like the first 5 Dark Scorpions.

They begin playing.

_Superstition taking all of us for a ride,_

_Mimes overtaken by signs of the right,_

_The bombs are falling with no sight._

_**While your talking all detached, so tell us;**_

_**Where you going?**_

_**To the bottom,**_

_**Do you hear us,**_

_**We are rotting.**_

_**We're going down, in a spiral to the ground,**_

_**No one, no one's gonna save us now.**_

_Ceremonies have killed religion for they provide_

_The masked comforts to dillusionals,_

_They're all right._

_The true believer's head was bathed in sunlight._

_**While your talking all detached, so tell us;**_

_**Where you going?**_

_**To the bottom,**_

_**Do you hear us,**_

_**We are rotting.**_

_**We're going down, in a spiral to the ground,**_

_**No one, no one's gonna save us now.**_

_Not even God, no one saved us,_

_No one's gonna save us..._

_Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?_

_Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?_

_Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?_

_Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?_

_Superstition taking all of us for a ride,_

_Mimes overtaken by signs of the Right._

_The bombs are falling overhead with no sight._

_While you where talking all detached, detached,_

_detached, detached, detached_

_Going down into a spiral to the ground,_

_No one saved us, no one's gonna save us now,_

_Not even God, no one saved us, no one saved us,_

_No one saved us, no one saved us, no one's gonna save us now._

_Where do you expect them to go when the bombs fall?_

The music fades to slight applause, and the Dark Scorpions bow, and vanish.

**00000**

_Tenative, that's a song by System of a Down, its about being saved, and war,_ Katie thinks as she goes into the lobby to get some food. _This might be a sign of some sorts._

**00000**

_Five Gods Dragon and Dragon Revival Ritual where used by the Big 5._

_Chikua was made by Dueler King, thanks for letting me use your cards._

_Master of Dragon Soldier was used in the first Virtual World by Yugi and Kaiba._

_Tenative is a song by System of a Down if you missed that, its quite good._

**00000**

_**Deckmaster Swap**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of two duelists trading. This card can only be activated when the Deckmaster rules are in effect. Players switch Deckmasters for the remainder of the turn.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that was interesting.**_

_**Next chapter, its time for the Dark Scorpions and Gravekeepers to take on their toughest challenge yet, Aster Phoenix and his Destiny Heroes! Who shall prevail? And who shall win the tournament. Find answers for the first question and more in, "D-Spirit."**_

_**Coming soon to a website near you.**_


	47. DSpirit

_This fanfiction has had a lot of special guests._

_Out of them, not exactly at first the most memorable was the famous Aster Phoenix, known for his destiny heroes, he dueled against Renee in the Preliminaries._

_And he's now back._

_Disclaimer: I only own the carachters I created._

**00000**

_**On the level of duelists, I'm still just a beginner, a wanna-be, a newbie, whatever you want to call me.**_

_**My friends on the other hand have been dueling for years, like Renee who was the National Champion of France (she usualy only made it to the last round of the United European States tournament), or Katie who was practicaly raised on Duel Monsters.**_

_**While I'm only a beginner, I'm now in the finals of my first major tournament.**_

_**And I'm dueling against one of the best duelists in the world, though I'm not sure if I can win.**_

_**Well, you know what they say, if your gonna go out, go out with a bang.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 47:**

**D-SPIRIT**

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"Next up, standing at 5 foot 7 inches, weighing 179 pounds, and sporting a deck with a flair for the darker side of the game, Darren Masters!" Smith says, and Darren walks into the arena to the cheers of his friends. "And he will be using a deck he calls, _**Power of the Ancient Tomb**_!"

Darren smiles, and activates his duel disk as the Crescent Moon Queen appears behind him.

"And his opponent, standing at 5 foot 9 inches, also weighing 179 pounds, with a deck known worldwide for its strength in the darker heroes, Aster Phoenix!" Smith says, and Aster enters the arena. "He will be using a deck he calls, _**Destiny Call**_!"

Aster activates his own duel disk as the Destiny Hero Dogma appears behind him.

The two monsters clash, and explode in fireworks.

_Alright, I'm dueling one of the best duelists in the world, I will not freak out, I will not freak out, I will not freak out,_ Darren thinks.

"He's going to freak out," Renee says with a chuckle.

"And now the arena roulette will activate!" Victoria says, and the walls begin shifting a little, and then transform into what looks like a giant toy shop, with toys of all kinds surrounding them. "Ahh, welcome to, _**Toyland**_!"

_Well, I'll give her points for originality,_ Darren says. "Okay, I'll pick as my deckmaster, my Mystical Knight of Jackal!"

A huge jackal monster appears next to him.

"And I'll pick..." Aster says, glancing through his deck. "My Destiny Hero Defender!" He says, and a huge blocky warrior appears next to him.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"Okay, I'll go first," Darren says, and draws. "Alright, I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Aster draws. "I activate my spell card Polymerization, to fuse together my Avian and Burstinadrix to summon the Elemental Hero Phoenix enforcer!" he says, and the demonic-looking hero appears. "Now, I'll place this card face down, and attack your face down monster with my Enforcer!"

The phoenix blasts at the face down monster, which is revealed to be a man in a black cloak.

"That was my Gravekeeper's Spy, when he's destroyed, I can summon another Gravekeeper from my deck to the field," Darren says, and takes a card out of his deck. "So, I'll summon my Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800)!" he says, and an egyptian man with dreadlocks appears on the field. "And thanks to his effect, you lose 500 life points!" He says, and Aster's life points fall to 3500.

"Fine, I'll end my turn," Aster says, and Darren draws.

_Okay, I gotta get rid of that monster, but I've got nothing I can use to do that in my hand right now,_ he thinks, and looks at the card he drew. "Okay, I'll activate Pot of Greed," he says, and draws two cards. "I'll place this card face down, and set a monster in defense mode while switching my Curse to defense, your move."

Aster draws. "Alright, I'm going to place one card face down, and have my Phoenix Enforcer attack your face down monster!" He commands, and the hero slashes at the face down monster...

Only to be devoured by a Man-Eater Bug.

"Fine, but by doing so, you activated the trap card I set earlier, D-Time, which allows me to add a Destiny Hero to my hand!" Aster says, and takes a card out of his deck. "Your move now."

Darren draws. "Alright, I'm sacrificing my Gravekeeper's Curse to summon Gravekeeper's Chief!" He says, and a priest with a goatee and carrying a staff appears. "And thanks to his special ability, I can revive my Gravekeeper's Curse!"

The gravekeeper with dreadlocks appears again.

"And don't forget, since he was summoned, you lose 500 life points!"

Gravekeeper's Curse blasts Aster, and his life points fall to 3000 while Darren is still standing strong at 4000.

"Yeah, Darren's taken the lead!" Renee says.

"I don't know, this seems a little too easy," Ariel says.

"Now my Gravekeeper's, attack him directly!" Darren commands, and the two gravekeepers fire their respective attacks at Aster.

"Sorry, go trap card, Mirror Force!" Aster counters, and the blast is deflected back at the Gravekeepers. "Is that all you've got, Darren? Because otherwise this will be a very short duel."

"No, I'm activating my deckmaster's special ability, by paying 500 life points, I can take my Gravekeeper's Chief, and place him back on top of my deck," Darren says, and takes the card out of his graveyard, and puts it on his deck. "And I'll redraw it by playing Pot of Greed," he says, and draws 2 cards. "Now its your move."

Aster draws. "Alright, I activate the spell card D-Spirit, so I can special summon a Destiny Hero from my hand since I have none on the field, so give a warm toyland welcome to Destiny Hero Diamond Dude (1400/1600)!" He says, and a hero with diamonds exuding from his body appears. "And I'm going to use his special ability, if my next card is a spell card, it gets discarded to the graveyard, and I can activate it next turn."

He picks up his next card, and smiles, showing it as a Pot of Greed, which he places in the graveyard.

"And now I'll place one card face down, and normal summon the Destiny Hero Doom Lord (600/800)!" He says, and a demonic hero appears.

"And they'll both attack you directly!"

First Diamond Dude blasts Darren with a shower of crystals, and then Doom Lord follows up with a blast of dark magic.

Darren's life points now read 2000.

"Your move, Darren," Aster says.

Darren draws. "I summon the Dark Scorpion member Xain the Demolisher (1550/1200), in attack mode!" He says, and the demolitions expert of the Dark Scorpions appears. "Now attack the Doom Lord with Scorpion Blast!"

"I'm activating my deckmaster's special ability, once per turn, by discarding one card from my hand, I can negate your attack!" Aster counters, and discards a card, the attack just bounces off. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, your move," Darren says.

Aster draws, and then his Pot of Greed activates, so he draws 2 more cards. "Perfect, as much as I like this place, its time for a change of scenery, I activate a field spell known as Clocktower Prison!"

A castle with a huge clock tower, remnicent of Big Ben bursts out of the earth.

_So, this is that combo I've heard so much about,_ Darren thinks. "Not bad."

"Well, its about to get worse for you, I summon the Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious (800/600), in attack mode!" He says, and a muscular hero with wild red hair and two wings attached to his arms appears. "I'll place two cards face down, and use my Diamond Dude's special ability first."

He takes the next card off of his deck, and shows it as a Magical Shard Excavation spell card, which he places in the graveyard.

"Now, I'm going to use my Doom Lord's special ability, and send your Dark Scorpion into the future!" He says, and suddenly Xain vanishes.

"What, what did you do?" Darren demands.

"I removed Xain from the game until my second standby phase after this effect was activated," Aster says. "Fortunately for you, by using Doom Lord's special ability, I have to skip my battle phase, so take your turn."

Darren draws, and looks over his hand. "Alright, I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Go trap card, Eternal Dread, this adds two counters to my field card!" Aster says, and the clock tower goes up to 10 o'clock.

_Oh man, just one more counter and he'll be able to summon his Dreadmaster,_ Darren thinks. _And I've got nothing that can stop it!_

Aster draws, and then his Magical Shard Excavation activates, he discards two cards, and reactivates his Pot of Greed, and draws 2 cards. "And now, I'm going to sacrifice my 3 heroes, to summon the mighty, Destiny Hero Dogma (3400/3000)!"

The three monsters vanish, and a huge demonic man in black carrying a chain appears.

"And I'll have him attack your face down monster!"

The fiendish hero rips through a monster which is revealed to be Meanae the Thorn.

"And its your move."

Darren draws.

"Hold it, thanks to the special ability of Dogma, you lose half your life points!" Aster says, and Darren's life points fall to 1000. "And on top of that, my Clock Tower gains its last token!"

The hour hand on the clock lands on midnight, and it lets out 12 chimes.

"Katie, do you think Darren can win?" Renee asks

"I really don't know," Katie admits. "Darren's a good duelist and all, and I hope he wins, but I kinda doubt he will, unless he draws the right cards at the right time."

"Alright, Phoenix, you've been getting on my nerves long enough, its time for me to put you in your place, I activate the Vase of Unholy Blight, by removing a Mystic Tomato from my deck, I can draw 3 cards," he says, and does so. "Now, I activate the spell card Quick Summon, so I can normal summon a monster without a sacrifice, so go Crescent Moon Queen (2600/1700)!"

The beautiful female dark warrior appears.

"And while I'm at it, I'm going to activate the equip spell that I got from Miss. Pegasus, Dark Scorpion Tatoo, this card makes it so any monster equiped with this card counts as a Dark Scorpion!"

A tatoo of a black scorpion burns into the Queen's skin.

"And now I'll activate the field spell, Scorpion Den, raising the attack of all Dark Scorpions by 500!"

The clocktower vanishes, and a cave appears with piles of gold

The Queen's attack rises to 3100.

"Its still too weak," Aster points out.

"I know, so I'll place one card face down, and end my turn," Darren says.

Aster draws, and laughs. "You fool, by destroying the Clocktower Prison, you released its prisoner, the mighty, _**Destiny Hero Dreadmaster**_ (+ 3400)!" He shouts, and a huge man with black hair and a metal mask, with bulging muscles comparable to the hulk appears. "And thanks to his other ability, I can now special summon two Destiny Heroes from my graveyard, so welcome back Diamond Dude and Captain Tenacious!"

The two monsters appear with angry looks on their faces.

Dreadmaster's attack rises to 5400.

"And now I'll activate a spell card that Miss. Pegasus gave me as well, its called Destiny Storm, so I can destroy a spell or trap card on your side of the field for every destiny hero I have, so say good bye to all 3 of your cards!"

A huge storm blows away the 3 s/t cards on Darren's field.

The tatoo on Crescent Moon Queen vanishes, and the cavern fades away, and the face down Great Escape trap card is blasted.

"Of course, to do that I have to pay half my life points, but its a small price to pay to win this duel," Aster says as his life points fall to 1500. "Now to finish you off, Dreadmaster, attack with Dark Destiny Punch!"

The huge hero punches through the Crescent Moon Queen, and Darren's life points fall to 0.

"You can't hide from destiny," Aster says, and the holograms fade, leaving Darren writhering on the floor.

_No, my one chance to prove my worth, and I lost..._ Darren thinks to himself.

"And the winner of the second duel is, Aster Phoenix!" Victoria exclaims.

_So, there is a weakness,_ Doppler thinks from her spot in the darkness.

"And before the next round, where Renee Lords will take on Darius Steel, we have some musical entertainment," Victoria says.

The holograms activate again, and this time Elemental Hero Avian appears with a piano, and Burstinadrix appears on it.

She starts to sing as Avian begins to play...

_Where have all the good men gone,_

_And where are all the gods?_

_Where's the street-wise Hercules_

_To fight the Rising Odds?_

_Isn't there a white knight upon a firey steed?  
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need..._

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

_**I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night;**_

_**He's gotta be strong, **_

_**and he's gotta be fast,**_

_**And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!**_

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

_**I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light;**_

_**He's gotta be sure,**_

_**And it's gotta be soon,**_

_**And he's gotta be larger than life!**_

_Somewhere after midnight,_

_In my wildest fantasy,_

_Somewhere just beyond my reach_

_There's someone reaching back for me._

_Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat,_

_It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet!_

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

_**I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night;**_

_**He's gotta be strong, **_

_**and he's gotta be fast,**_

_**And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!**_

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

_**I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light;**_

_**He's gotta be sure,**_

_**And it's gotta be soon,**_

_**And he's gotta be larger than life!**_

_Up where the mountains meet the heavens above;_

_Out where the lightning splits the sea;_

_I would swear that there's someone somewhere _

_Watching me!_

_Through t he wind and the chill and the rain,_

_And the storm and the flood,_

_I can feel his approach_

_like the fire in my blood!_

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

_**I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night;**_

_**He's gotta be strong, **_

_**and he's gotta be fast,**_

_**And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!**_

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

_**I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light;**_

_**He's gotta be sure,**_

_**And it's gotta be soon,**_

_**And he's gotta be larger than life!**_

_**I NEED A HERO!**_

Everyone claps, and Burstinadrix takes a bow as the holograms fade again.

_At first glance, that song might be a reference to Aster's deck type, but there's deffinately going to be a need for heroes soon,_ Katie thinks.

**00000**

_**Dark Scorpion Tatoo**_

_**Equip Spell**_

_**Image of a tatoo artist branding a black scorpion onto the arm of Don Zaloog. The monster equiped with this card counts as having "Dark Scorpion" in its name.**_

_**Destiny Storm**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a huge storm blowing around the Destiny Hero Doom Lord. This card can only be activated when you have you have at least two Destiny Heroes on the field. Destroy a spell or trap card on the field for every monster with "Destiny Hero" on your side of the field. You must pay half your life points to use this card, that cost is not optional under any circimstances.**_

**00000**

_**Well, round two is done, and Darren's out of the tournament.**_

_**Next chapter, its Renee's turn to duel in the finals, and she faces off against an opponent she faced earlier in the tournament. Can the Guardians overcome the Bacterion monsters again? Find out in, "B.E.S Covered Core."**_


	48. BES Covered Core

_Okay, after a bit of a delay, we are finally ready to continue on._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that I didn't create._

**00000**

Well, I've made a lot of progress since I first began the tournament; I've made it to the finals, with the rest of my friends.

Darren lost his round to Aster Phoenix, its really too bad, but Darren did his best, so that's what really matters.

Now it's my turn to do my best, and this time I'm facing off against an opponent that I've beaten before, my first opponent, Darrius Steel.

I hope I can win this time.

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CHAPTER 48:

B.E.S COVERED CORE

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"And now, for the third round of the Duelist Dimension Quarter-Finals, in this corner, standing at 6'1" weighing 200 pounds, all muscle, is the mechanical duelist, Darrius Steel!" Smith announces, and Darrius steps out into the arena. "And he shall be using a deck he calls, Introductory Flight!"

B.E.S Covered Core appears behind Darrius.

"And his opponent, standing at 6'3" and weighing 125 pounds, the daughter of the legendary Guardian duelist Raphael, Renee Lords!" Smith continues, and Renee steps out into the arena. "And she is using a deck she calls, Oath to Serve and Protect!"

Guardian Aitos appears behind Renee.

The two monsters clash, and explode in a fury of fireworks.

"Hmm, Renee uses Guardians, and Darrius uses the B.E.S monsters, I wonder how this one is going to turn out," Aster says.

"Well, they did duel earlier in the tournament, and Renee won, but I don't doubt that Darrius has stepped up his game since then," Katie says

"Don't expect to win this time, Renee," Darrius says, activating his duel disk. "I've gotten a lot better since last time we dueled, and now not even you can beat me."

"We'll see," Renee says, activating her duel disk.

"And now, the arena roulette activates!" Victoria says.

Lines of code run along the walls of the arena, and then the setting begins to shift. Suddenly they find each other standing on two Asteroids across from each other, and Asteroids are flying around them, somewhere in the distance they can see a giant red sun.

"Ahh, the perfect place for a battle against spaceships, welcome to the Asteroid Ocean!" Victoria calls out. "Now duelists, present your deckmasters."

"I know just who to pick, I choose my Gadget Soldier!" Darrius says, and a mechanical soldier appears next to him.

"And I'll choose, my Guardian Elma!" Renee says, and the red-haired guardian appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"I'll go first," Renee says, and draws. "I'll play my Guardian Treasure, I discard my hand, and I can draw 2 cards now, and on everyone of my draw phases," Renee says, and discards her hand, then draws 2. "Now I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place this card face down, to end my turn."

Darrius draws, and grins. "Sorry, but I'm not going to fall for that again, I'll bet that monster is your Back-Up Guardian, but I can deal with it, I'll summon my Gradius (1200/800), in attack mode!" He says, and the silver spaceship appears. "And while I'm at it, I'll equip it with Cyclon Laser, giving it 300 more attack points, and I'll summon my Gradius' Option (1200/800)!" He says, and a second Gradius appears.

"So, you can't beat my Guardian, if that's even what it is," Renee says.

"Oh, but I won't have to attack, I play the spell card Gradius Missile, I can use this card to destroy your face down monster!" Darrius says, and missiles strike the face down monster, which is revealed to be a black urn. "What, but, I thought…"

"Sorry Darrius, but that wasn't my Back-Up Guardian at all, that was my Jar of Want, now I can draw 3 cards since you destroyed it with an effect," Renee says, and draws 3 cards.

"Fine, but I can now pay 500 life points to destroy your Guardian Treasure!" Darrius says, and his life points fall to 3500, and the spell explodes. "Now my two monsters attack her directly!"

The two spaceships blast Renee, and her life points fall to 1600.

"One card face down, and that's it for me," Darrius finishes.

Okay, this isn't good, he's gotten me down to less than half my life points, and its only my second turn, I've gotta step up my game, Renee thinks, and draws. "Alright, I'll play my Monster Reborn spell card, to revive my Back-Up Guardian (0/2200)!" She says, and the purple demon appears. "And, I think I'll equip it with my Rod of Silence-Kay'est and my Heart of Clear Water, and summon Guardian Kay'est (1000/1800), in attack mode!" Renee says, and the Mermaid guardian appears.

"What's your point?" Darrius asks. "That monster can't beat either of my Gradius monsters."

"True, but I'm done for now," Renee says.

Darrius draws. "I play a field spell called Second Loop, this card allows me to pick between two effects, but we'll get to that in a moment, because I'm sacrificing my two Gradius monsters to summon this, B.E.S Covered Core (2500/800)!" He says, and a giant circular spaceship appears. "And it gets 2 Turn Counters since I normal summoned it. So, now I'll play my Boss Rush spell card, and activate Second Coin Toss."

Second Coin Toss? Why would he play that card? Renee thinks.

"Well, since your monster can't be destroyed, I'll have my Covered Core attack your Guardian Kay'est!" Darrius commands, and the spaceship launches missiles at the mermaid, but the attack is suddenly deflected by a giant water bird.

"Sorry, Darrius, but my Guardian Kay'est cannot be attacked, looks like you can't do anything," Renee says with a grin.

"Of course, because Renee's monster can't be attacked, there's no way that Darrius can activate his Boss Rush spell card, and do damage to Renee's life points," Yugi says.

"Well, he could attack her Back-Up Guardian, but that's about it," Ariel points out. Unless of course he has that one card, but we'll just have to see.

"Alright Renee, its your move," Darrius says.

Renee draws. "Okay, I'll equip my Guardna with my Gravity Axe-Grarl!" Renee says, and a giant axe appears in the demon's hands. "And that's it for me."

Darrius draws. "Alright, I'll play the spell card Stage Select, with this card, your deck is shuffled," He says, and Renee's deck automaticaly shuffles. "And now, I can take any card in my deck, and place it on the top of my deck," he says, and takes a card out, and puts it back on top. "And I'll draw it with my face down card, Greed Pact, so we both can draw one card," he says, and both players draw a single card. "And now, I can play it, the spell card Introductory Flight, by paying 1000 of my life points," he says, and his life points fall to 2500. "I can summon any monster that is named Big Core, has B.E.S in its name, or is named Gradius that I haven't already played to the field, so I'll summon my B.E.S Volcanic Core (2000/1300)!"

A spaceship covered with rocks and metal appears, and it glows as 3 Turn Counters appears.

"Wait, that was a special summon, how did it get counters?" Renee asks.

"Thanks to my Second Loop card, that's how," Darrius explains. "One of its effects allows any monster with the word "B.E.S" in its name that is special summoned to be counted as a normal summon, so my Volcanic Core gets its counters. Now Volcanic Core, attack her Guardian Kay'est, Volcanic Missile Barrage!"

"What's the point? The attack won't work!" Renee says as the water bird appears again.

"Oh really…" Darrius grins, and the missiles burst through the bird, and blow up the mermaid, and Renee's life points fall to 1100. "When my Volcanic Core battles, the opponent's monster's effects are automaticaly negated, so your Guardian lost its protection, the only disadvantage is that you only take half the damage you normally would take, but then I can also destroy one spell card on your field, like your Rod of Silence!"

The rod explodes in Back-Up Guardian's hand, and one of the shield tokens explodes on the Volcanic Core.

"And now its your turn," Darrius finishes.

Renee draws. "Okay, I'll place this card face down, and since he's the last card in my hand, I can special summon my Guardian Grarl (2500/1000), in attack mode!" She says, and the dinosaur guardian appears. "And I'll switch my Gravity Axe to him, and have him attack your Volcanic Core with Gravity Axe Smash!"

The dinosaur-man charges forward, and smashes down on the spaceship, causing another shield to explode, and Darrius' life points fall to 2000.

"Sorry, but I only take half damage from any battle that my Volcanic Core participates in, is that all for your move?" Darrius asks.

"Yeah, go ahead," Renee, says.

Darrius draws. Okay, I just drew my B.E.S Shining Core, but I shouldn't risk it right now, so I'll save it for later, he thinks, and picks out another card. "I'll place this card face down, and switch my Volcanic Core to defense mode to end my turn."

Renee draws. "Okay, I'll summon my Getsu Fuhma (1700/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a female warrior in red armor appears on the field. "Getsu Fuhma, attack his Volcanic Core with Blade of Vengeance Attack!"

The female warrior cuts through the last counter on the ship.

"And now to get rid of it once and for all, Guardian Grarl, destroy his Volcanic Core with Gravity Axe Smash!" Renee commands, and the dinosaur guardian charges forward, and smashes the spaceship, causing it to explode. "And that's it for me."

"Hold on, before you end your turn, my Boss Rush spell card activates, allowing me to special summon this monster from my deck, my B.E.S Crystal Core (2100/1000)!" Darrius says, and a blue crystal spaceship appears, with 3 shields appearing, again. "And don't forget my field spell makes it a normal summon. Now I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your Gravity Axe!" He says, and a huge windstorm blows away the axe. "And now, I'll use my Crystal core's effect to switch your Grarl's battle position from attack mode to defense mode!"

The dinosaur kneels in defense mode.

"Now Covered Core, destroy her Grarl with Bacterion Swarm Attack!" Darrius commands, and the ship lets out a swarm of smaller ships that ravage the guardian, making it explode. "And now, thanks to the special ability of my Covered Core, I can flip a coin, and if I guess correctly, it won't lose a shield, but if I'm wrong, it will lose a shield, and I'll call Heads!"

A coin appears in the arena, the coin flips, and lands on tails.

"However, I have my Second Coin Toss, so I can flip again, and I'll call heads again!"

The coin flips again, and lands on heads.

"Alright, Crystal Core, destroy her Getsu Fuhma, Crystal Shot Attack!" Darrius commands, and the spaceship sends a huge burst of crystal-like bombs at the warrior, and she explodes, dropping Renee's life points to 700.

"Oh man, Renee's really in a fix now!" Darren says, gripping the handrail.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll figure something out," Katie says. "I hope…"

"You're move, Renee," Darrius says.

Alright, its now or never, I've gotta draw the right card, right now, Renee thinks, and draws. "I'll play, Card of Sanctity, so we both draw until we have 6 cards!" She says, and both players draw until they have 6 cards. "And now, I'll play two Soul Release Cards, to remove from the game my Guardian Grarl, Guardian Kay'est, Jar of Want, and Getsu Fuhma!" She says, and the 4 cards disappear from her graveyard. "And from your graveyard, I'll remove Stage Select, Introductory Flight, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Greed Pact!" She continues, and the 5 spell and trap cards disappear. "And one more card, the face down card Dissapear, to get rid of your Gradius Missile spell card!" She says, and the last card vanishes.

"What's the point? All I have is monsters now," Darrius points out.

"That is the point," Renee says with a grin. "Because now I'll equip my Back-Up Guardian with my Sacred Sword-Aitos!" She says, and the large sword appears in the guardian's hand. "Now, since I removed all my monsters in the graveyard from the game, I can summon this, my Guardian Aitos (2500/2000)!"

An angel in Native American clothes descends onto the field.

"And now, I'll equip her with her sword, so she can use her effect, removing all monsters in your graveyard from the game!" Renee says, and Gradius, Gradius' Option, and B.E.S Volcanic Core all appear in spectral form, and vanish into Aitos. "And she gains all their attack points!" Renee says, and Aitos' attack goes up to 5700. "And now, I'll play my own Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your face down card!"

A storm blows away a Mirror Force.

"No, this can't be happening!" Darrius shouts.

"Sorry, Darrius, game over, you did a great job, but you still lost. Guardian Aitos, attack his B.E.S Covered Core with Sacred Sword slash!" Renee says, and the guardian slashes through the spaceship, and the holograms fade as Darrius' life points fall to 0, and the two walk out to meet in the stadium. "You did a great job, Darrius, I hope we get the chance to duel again someday," Renee says, offering a handshake.

"You can count on it," Darrius says, and shakes Renee's hand, and the two part, heading out of the arena to watch the music.

The Dark Scorpions appear again, and start playing a song by Linkin Park.

_I watch how the  
Moon sits in the sky in the dark night  
Shining with the light from the sun  
The sun doesn't give light to the moon assuming  
The moon's going to owe it one  
It makes me think of how you act to me You do  
Favors and then rapidly. You just  
Turn around and start asking me about  
Things you want back from me._

_**  
I'm sick of the tension sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest  
I want to be in another place  
I hate when you say you don't understand  
(You'll see it's not meant to be)  
I want to be in the energy, not with the enemy  
A place for my head.**_

_**  
**__Maybe someday I'll be just like you and  
Step on people like you do and Run  
Away the people I thought I knew  
I remember back then who you were  
You used to be calm used to be strong  
Used to be generous, but you should've known That you'd  
Wear out your welcome now you see  
How quiet it is all alone _

_**I'm so Sick of the tension, sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest I'm so  
Sick of the tension sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest**_

_**  
I want to be in another place  
I hate when you say you don't understand  
(You'll see it's not meant to be)  
I want to be in the energy, not with the enemy  
A place for my head**_

_You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
You try to take the best of me  
Go away  
__**  
I want to be in another place  
I hate when you say you don't understand  
(You'll see it's not meant to be)  
I want to be in the energy, not with the enemy  
A place for my head**_

Shut...up

I'm so sick of the tension sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest

I'm so sick of the tension, sick of the hunger  
Sick of you acting like I owe you this  
Find another place to feed your greed  
While I find a place to rest

As the music fades away, Katie sits back to think. Interesting choice for a song, but I can't dwell on it right now, because Wendy's up next, and I can only hope that she can win, she thinks.

00000

Second Loop, B.E.S Shining Core, and Jar of Want were all created by Cyber Commander.

Gradius Missile and Introductory Flight where both created by Man Called True.

00000

B.E.S Volcanic Core

Fire

2000/1300

5

Machine/Effect

A B.E.S spacecraft designed to maneuver in the most dangerous of volcanoes. When this monster is normal summoned or flip summoned, it automaticaly gains 3 turn counters. This monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle as long as it has one turn counter. When this monster attacks an opponent's monster, the monster's effect is negated. When this monster attacks or is attacked, all damage done to either player is cut in half. When this monster battles without a turn counter, it is destroyed in the damage step.

(This card was made based off of one of the bosses in one of the various Gradius games, don't ask which game, I'm not sure either.)

00000

Well, that's another chapter done, and Renee has made it to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Next chapter, its Wendy's turn to compete for the semi-finals, but can she beat Ariel Kaiba? It's a clash between the divine dragon duelist, and the samurai in, "Ceasefire."


	49. Ceasefire

_In the history of dueling, there of course have been a lot of rivalries._

_A rivalry between Joey Wheeler and Seto Kaiba is rather one-sided, but its there nonetheless._

_Shall we see how much it carried over into their daughters?  
_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Well, the finals are almost over, so far Katie and Renee have advanced, but Darren lost his duel, so now its my turn.**_

_**My current opponent is a duelist with a reputation as being tough to beat, as a matter of fact, the only blemish on her official record is her duel against Katie.**_

_**Yeah, I have to duel my own cousin, the famous Ariel Kaiba.**_

_**Sure, she's got a great deck and all, and so do I...**_

_**But that doesn't make this duel any easier.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 49:**

**CEASEFIRE**

**0000000000**

**00000**

"Uhh, Joey, shouldn't you move some of that food so you can actually see the next duel?" Mai asks her husband who has food piled up on his lap so much, he can barely see over it.

"Oh right, sorry," Joey says, shifting some of the food around so he can see the arena. "Who's dueling again?"

"Our daughter, you dimwit!" Mai says, slapping Joey in the back of the head with so much force, she sends him into a bucket of popcorn.

Kaiba just watches amused.

_Not that it matters if you cheer for Wendy or not, it'll be a cold day in Hell when a Kaiba loses to a Wheeler,_ he thinks.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kisara says, rushing into the balcony.

"Hello Kisara, take a seat," Katie says, and scoots over on the couch so the older girl can sit next to her. "Ariel's duel is about to start."

**00000**

"On this side of the field, standing at 5 foot 7 inches, and weighing 130 pounds, 270 with her armor, and sporting a deck reflecting on her taste for the samurai of old, we have Wendy Wheeler!" Smith says, and Wendy steps into the arena, looking determined. "And she's using a deck she calls, _**Legends of Bushido**_!"

Yammoto the Noble Samurai appears behind her.

"And her opponent, towering above most of her opponents at 6 foot 4 inches, and weighing 115 pounds, and sporting a deck of dragons, warriors, and fairies, we have the daughter of a legend, Ariel Kaiba!" Smith says, and Ariel walks into the arena. "And she'll be using a deck she calls, _**Divine Trinity**_!"

Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears behind Ariel.

The two monsters clash and explode in fireworks.

Ariel and Wendy meet in the middle of the arena, and exchange decks.

"Wendy, promise me that we'll have a good honorable duel, and I'll be happy no matter the result," Ariel says. "After all, don't forget, our fathers are watching, and we want to give them a good show, don't we?"

Wendy nods, and hands Ariel her deck back, and Ariel gives Wendy her deck back.

"The duel will begin with the selection of an arena!" Victoria says.

Lines of code criss-cross the arena walls, and suddenly it changes again. This time it resembles an arena of sorts, however the two of them find themselves standing on two platforms with 10 black spheres around them.

"Ahh, this arena, designed in honor of D.J MacHale's 7th Pendragon book, _The Quillan Games_, welcome to, _**Tato Match Arena**_!" Victoria says, and a crowd appears in the stands. "The rules for this arena are simple, stay on the platforms, if you find it necessary, you may break one of the spheres, when you do, you will get a random card, may it be monster, spell, or trap, that will assist you in your current situation. However, it will weaken the platforms, and make them unstable, if you are to fall, you will lose half your life points, and the platforms will lower, allowing the duel to continue on the ground as a normal duel, but any remaining spheres will be unbreakable. So pick your deckmasters, and let the Tato Duel begin!"

"All right, I'll choose my Sashia the Samurai Squire!" Wendy says, and the female samurai carrying a bow appears next to her.

"And I'll choose, Kaiser Seahorse," Ariel says, and the seahorse warrior appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"TATO!" The crowd roars.

_Okay, that's a little too realistic for my tastes, I remember the Quillan games being barbaric, lets hope Wendy and Ariel can stand up to the situation,_ Marie thinks.

"I'll go first," Ariel says, and draws. "Alright, I'll start with one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Wendy draws, and looks her hand over. "Okay, I'll place this card face down, and summon my Usagi Warrior (1500/1200), in attack mode!" She says, and the hare warrior appears. "Now, attack her face down monster, Blade of Honor attack!"

The hare slashes at the face down monster, only to get his sword caught by a whip, and he's thrown back to Wendy's side of the field, and Wendy's life points fall to 3700.

"Sorry, that was Meanae the Thorn, and thanks to her effect, I can add a Dark Scorpion to my hand because she damaged your life points," Ariel says, and takes a card out of her deck.

"Fine, your move," Wendy says.

Ariel draws, and glances at her card. _Monster Armor, but I can only use this with my Blue-Eyes, so I'll save it for later,_ she thinks, and adds it to her hand. "I summon my Spear Dragon (1900/0), in attack mode!" She says, and the long-nosed blue and white dragon appears. "Now attack her hare with Cyclone Blast!"

The dragon sends a huge blast at the hare, and destroys him. Then the dragon kneels in defense mode.

"And now its your turn," Ariel finishes.

Wendy draws. _Okay, nothing I can use right now, not even any monsters I can summon, this is going to be risky, but… _ she thinks, and smashes one of the black spheres, and the platform shudders as she takes the card out. "All right, I'll play the card I got, Cost Down!" She says, discarding a card. "So I can summon my Robo Ronnin (2000/1000), in attack mode!" She says, and the robotic samurai appears. "Now, destroy her thief, Laser Katana attack!"

The machine samurai slashes through Meanae, and the platform starts to shake a little from the attack.

_She took a huge risk by taking that card, I hope she knows what she's doing, _Katie thinks.

"All right, your move Ariel," Wendy finishes.

Ariel draws, and grins. "All right, I'll summon this monster in attack mode, Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!" She says, and a golden dragon appears on her field.

"Huh, how did she summon a monster that strong without a tribute?" Darren asks.

"Don't you know anything? Kaiser Seahorse's deckmaster ability allows Ariel to summon high level light monsters with one tribute less than necessary," Aster answers.

"So, she could summon a Blue-Eyes with only one tribute?" Darren asks.

"That's right, Wendy's got her work cut out for her now," Katie says.

"Now Kaiser Glider, attack her Robo Ronnin with Golden Fire Attack!" Ariel commands, and the dragon blasts away the mechanical samurai, lowering Wendy's life points to 3300, and causing the platform to shudder again.

"Come on Wendy, you can beat her!" Joey calls out from the balcony, barely being audible over the roar of the crowd.

"Alright Wendy, its your turn, lets see what kind of trick you can pull off now," Ariel says with a smirk.

Wendy draws. "I play, Monster Reborn, to revive my Usagi Warrior!" She says, and the hare warrior appears again. "And I'll activate my trap card, Book of Tao, which will double his attack points, now attack her Kaiser Glider with Blade of Honor attack!"

The hare slashes through the dragon, and Ariel's life points fall to 3400, and the Tato platform shudders again.

"Sorry Wendy, but when my Kaiser Glider is destroyed, I can send one monster back to my opponent's hand, like your hare!" Ariel says, and the dragon sends a gust of wind that sends the card back to Wendy's hand.

"Fine, I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Wendy finishes.

Ariel draws, and grins. "Okay, I'm sacrificing my Spear Dragon to summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" She says, and the white dragon appears with a roar. "Now, attack her face down monster, White Lightning Attack!"

The dragon sends a burst of lightning that wipes out Wendy's Usagi Warrior.

"And before I finish my turn, I think I'll even things out," Ariel says, and breaks one of the spheres that are on her side, grabbing the card as the platform starts to shudder, and shake back and forward. "Ahh, I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Wendy draws. _The only thing I have in my hand that could beat that monster is Shen Lung, but I don't have the ritual yet, so I'll have to stall,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Ariel draws, and glances at the card. "Alright, I'll trigger my trap card, Light of Intervention, so now neither of us can set a monster in defense mode, and I'll play my Graceful Charity spell card," she says, and draws 3 cards, then discards 2. "And I'll play my own Monster Reborn spell card, to revive my second Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

A second dragon appears.

"And I'll make things more interesting, I play this spell card, _**Monster Armor**_! And combine it with Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" She shouts, and golden armor appears on her, and one of the Blue-Eyes gets sucked into it.

_Monster Armor? I thought that card was only a rumor!_ Wendy thinks.

The shifts and changes, forming a helmet that resembles the head of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and white scale-like armor cover up Ariel's outfit, ending in a tail, as two wings spread out behind her, and a cannon forms on Ariel's arm.

"Meet, my Blue-Eyes Mecha Armor (3000/2500)!" Ariel says, and grins as she moves out into a monster space on the platform. "I've been waiting too long to see what this baby can do, now Blue-Eyes, destroy her face down monster with White Lightning attack!"

The dragon blasts away at a monster that is revealed to be a young samurai warrior.

"Sorry, but that was my Inexperienced Samurai Child (300/500), when he is destroyed, I can summon another from my deck," Wendy says, and a second child appears in defense mode.

"All right, fine, Blue-Eyes Mecha Armor, activate!" Ariel says, and power builds up in the arm cannon. "White Flash Cannon Attack!"

The cannon blasts away the second samurai, and Wendy's life points fall to 3000.

"Thanks to my armor's effect, you lose life points equal to your monster's attack points," Ariel explains, as a third Inexperienced Samurai Child appears. "Your move, Wendy."

Wendy draws nervously, and grins. "I'll use my deckmaster's special ability, and remove 3 monsters from my graveyard…" she says, and 2 Inexperienced Samurai Children and Usagi Warrior slip out of her graveyard. "And I can special summon my Yammoto, the Noble Samurai!" She says, and the golden samurai appears, drawing his sword.

"Yeah, what's the point? Your samurai might be strong, but he can't beat my armor or my dragon," Ariel says.

"True, but I can do this," Wendy says, and breaks sphere number three, and the platform begins to teeter dangerously as Wendy takes the card out. "Perfect, I summon, Time Wizard (500/400)!"

The clock magician appears.

"All right, she's going to summon her Yammoto, the Celestial Avatar!" Darren says.

"Yes, and if she gets this right, that dragon should be destroyed, and not to mention Ariel's armor will rust," Renee says.

Only Katie seemed unsure. _I don't know, this seems a little too easy, and Ariel doesn't seem worried at all,_ she thinks.

"All right Time Wizard, spin Time Roulette!" Wendy calls out, and the clock on the wizard's staff begins to spin. _Come on; don't land on a skull,_ Wendy thinks.

_She's played right into my hands, and she doesn't even know it,_ Ariel thinks.

The roulette slows down, and finally makes a stop on the top crown. "Yeah, go Time Magic!" Wendy says, and a vortex appears above them, causing Ariel's armor to rust, and then break into pixels, and Yammoto and Blue-Eyes White Dragon to age. "And now, after a thousand years have passed, Yammoto, the Noble Samurai has become Yammoto, the Celestial Avatar (2800/2200!"

The now older, and wiser samurai draws his sword, as if ready for battle.

"And your dragon is now worthless to you!" Wendy says, pointing at Ariel, who smirks, and then chuckles.

Then she just laughs out loudly. "You think that it's that easy, don't you? Your samurai isn't the only one who gains advantages with time, look closer at my dragon," Ariel says.

"What? Oh no, Blue-Eyes' attack hasn't gone down!" Wendy says in realization.

"That's right, after a thousand years have passed, Blue-Eyes White Dragon has trained her mind and body to overcome the tides of time, and has evolved into the _**Millenium Dragon**_ (3600/3000)!" Ariel says, and the dragon grows larger, getting gold and red scales, and growing long spikes on her tail. "Is that all for you?"

"One card face down, and that's it," Wendy says solemnly.

Ariel draws, and grins. "First, I'll do this!" She shouts, breaking another two spheres, grabbing the cards as the platform shudders, becoming more and more unstable as it begins to teeter even more, and starts to lean towards one side, unfortunately for Wendy, she's on the leaning side.

"Why did Ariel do that? She's putting herself at even more risk," Katie wonders.

"Didn't you ever read _The Quillan Games_? Tato isn't just a game of balance, it's a game of strategy, and sometimes in order to win, you have to make sacrifices in order to try and throw your opponent off balance, like Ariel just did," Marie says.

"With 5 spheres gone, I don't know how much longer either of them can hold on," Darren says. "Its now all up to whoever has the most stamina."

"Lets hope Wendy does," Katie says.

Ariel grins, as the crowd begins cheering and even chanting her name. "Well, Wendy, things aren't looking up for you, and believe me, its about to get worse, much worse, Millenium Dragon, attack with Golden Thunder Blast!"

The dragon rears her head back, and sends a huge blast at the aged samurai, blasting him to bits as Wendy's life points fall to 2200. Wendy gets knocked off balance, and barely manages to grab the edge of one of the broken spheres, and pull herself up.

"Sorry, Ariel, but I'm not going down that easily, go trap card, Samurai Rescue Force, since you destroyed Yammoto, I can summon a specific monster to the field, and I'll choose my The Six Samurai-Yariza (1000/500)!" She says, and a samurai wearing dark blue armor with some light blue lines, and carrying a lance with an energy beam on the end appears. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's it for me," Ariel says.

Wendy draws. "All right, I'll now summon my The Six Samurai-Nisashi (1400/700), in attack mode!" She says, and a green armored samurai appears carrying two katanas. "And I'll equip my Yariza with Legendary Ebon Steed!"

A black horse gallops up, and the samurai climbs onto its back.

"And now, I'll play a field spell, Shien's Castle of Mist!" Wendy says, and a giant temple appears behind her, covered with mist. "But we'll get to that in a moment. Yariza, attack her directly, Samurai Lance Attack!" Wendy commands, and the samurai gallops forward on the horse, and stabs Ariel with the lance, dropping her life points to 2400, which also makes her fall back onto one of the spheres, and sends the platform teetering, as Ariel takes the card out, it suddenly dips down, and the two girls grab onto the edges of the broken spheres.

The crowd was going crazy at this point; everyone knew that the duel could only continue at this point if one of the two girls let go, and neither of them seemed willing to fall.

"If neither duelist has fallen within the next two minutes, the duel will be declared over, and the duelist with the most life points, in this case Ariel Kaiba, the winner!" Smith announces.

It was all down to a test of wills, someone was going to fall.

_Okay, I've got two choices, one, I fall, and I lose half my life points, two, I keep holding on for two minutes, and lose the duel, I'm taking a huge risk if I fall, but I can't lose now, not when I've come so far,_ Wendy thinks.

"Looks like you're friend's not going to make it," Aster says.

"Come on Wendy, you can hold on just a little longer!" Katie shouts over the roar of the crowd.

_I'm sorry, I know I can, but this is what has to be done,_ Wendy thinks, and releases her grip on the broken sphere, and goes falling down and hits the ground with a sickening crunch, and the crowd roars with approval as Wendy's life points plummet to 1100.

Wendy struggles to get up as the platform rights itself, and lowers to show Ariel crossing her arms, and looking at Wendy. "We both know you could've held on a little longer, Wendy, why didn't you?"

"I didn't want you to win without fighting for it," Wendy says with a grin, and steps up to her place behind her two monsters. "I hope whatever card you got was good, because you're gonna need it, I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Ariel draws. "All right, time to end this, Millenium Dragon, destroy her Nisashi, Gold Thunder Blast!" She commands, and the dragon tries to attack again, only to hit a piece of armor, and have the attack go flying back at her, and exploding.

"Sorry, but that was my Sakuretsu Armor, so your monster was destroyed!" Wendy says.

"Fine, I'll place this card face down, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn," Ariel says.

Wendy draws. "All right, I'll place two cards face down, and summon the Six Samurai-Yaichi (1300/800), in attack mode!" She says, and a black and gold samurai carrying a bow and arrow appears. "And I'll use its effect, to destroy your face down card!"

The samurai fires an arrow, and destroys a Tyrant Wing trap card.

"Wow, Wendy's doing pretty good," Joey, says, in between stuffing his face with food.

"Joey, stop being such a pig," Mai says.

"What? I'm hungry," Joey says.

"Alright, Yariza, attack her directly, Samurai Lance Attack!" Wendy commands, and the samurai impales Ariel with his lance again, and her life points fall to 1400. "I'll end my turn there."

Ariel draws. "Alright, I'm sorry, but I have to bring this to a close, I play Premature Burial, to revive my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" She says, and the White Dragon appears with a roar. "And while I'm at it, I'll summon my Luster Dragon (1900/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a blue dragon appears. "And I'll play my Quick Summon card, so I can sacrifice my dragon to summon Guardian Angel Joan!" She continues, and a fairy appears, wielding a sword. "Blue-Eyes attack her Yaichi, White Lightning Attack!"

"I'll use his effect, and you'll destroy my Nisashi instead!" Wendy says.

The dragon blows away the samurai, and Wendy's life points fall to 0.

"I can't believe it, she lost," Katie says, and the holograms fade away, but Wendy smiles, and nods.

"Good duel, Ariel," she says, and Ariel smiles, before turning away, and leaving the arena.

_I knew that she could never beat Ariel, but even I'll admit, she did well, for a Wheeler,_ Kaiba thinks.

Musician King appears in the middle of the arena, and starts playing an old, but familiar song.

_A long long time ago_

_I can still remember how that music used to make me smile _

_And I knew if I had my chance _

_That I could make those people dance _

_And maybe they'd be happy for a while. _

_But February made me shiver _

_With every paper I'd deliver _

_Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step _

_I can't remember if I cried _

_When I read about his widowed bride _

_But something touched me deep inside _

_The day the music died _

_**So... **_

_**Bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my Chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_**This'll be the day that I die**_

_Did you write the Book of Love _

_And do you have faith in God above _

_If the Bible tells you so _

_Do you believe in rock 'n roll _

_Can music save your mortal soul _

_And can you teach me how to dance real slow _

_Well, I know that you're in love with him _

_'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym You both kicked off your shoes _

_Man, I dig those rhythm and blues _

_I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck _

_With a pink carnation and a pickup truck _

_But I knew I was out of luck _

_The day the music died _

_**I started singin' **_

_**Bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my Chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_**This'll be the day that I die**_

_Now for ten years we've been on our own _

_And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone _

_But that's not how it used to be _

_When the jester sang for the King and Queen _

_In a coat he borrowed from James Dean _

_And a voice that came from you and me _

_Oh, and while the King was looking down _

_The jester stole his thorny crown _

_The courtroom was adjourned _

_No verdict was returned And while _

_Lennon read a book of Marx _

_The quartet practiced in the park _

_And we sang dirges in the dark _

_The day the music died _

_**We were singing**_

_**Bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_**This'll be the day that I die**_

_Helter Skelter in a summer swelter _

_The Byrds flew off with a fallout shelter _

_Eight miles high and falling fast _

_It landed foul out on the grass _

_The players tried for a forward pass _

_With the jester on the sidelines in a cast _

_Now the half-time air was sweet perfume _

_While the Sergeants played a marching tune _

_We all got up to dance _

_Oh, but we never got the chance _

_'Cause the players tried to take the field _

_The marching band refused to yield _

_Do you recall what was revealed _

_The day the music died_

_**We started singing **_

_**Bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_**This'll be the day that I die**_

_Oh, and there we were all in one place _

_A generation Lost in Space _

_With no time left to start again _

_So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick _

_Jack Flash sat on a candlestick _

_'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend _

_Oh, and as I watched him on the stage _

_My hands were clenched in fists of rage _

_No angel born in hell _

_Could break that Satan's spell _

_And as the flames climbed high into the night _

_To light the sacrificial rite _

_I saw Satan laughing with delight _

_The day the music died _

_**He was singing**_

_**Bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_**This'll be the day that I die**_

_I met a girl who sang the blues _

_And I asked her for some happy news _

_But she just smiled and turned away _

_I went down to the sacred store _

_Where I'd heard the music years before _

_But the man there said the music woudn't play _

_And in the streets the children screamed _

_The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed _

_But not a word was spoken _

_The church bells all were broken _

_And the three men I admire most _

_The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost _

_They caught the last train for the coast _

_The day the music died _

_**And they were singing **_

_**So... **_

_**Bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_**This'll be the day that I die**_

_**So Let us sing...**_

_**They were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie **_

_**Drove my chevy to the levee **_

_**But the levee was dry **_

_**Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye **_

_**Singin' this'll be the day that I die **_

_American Pie, an old song about so many different confusing subjects, but it can reflect on many times and turmoil's,_ Katie thinks.

"The Quarterfinals are over for today, we shall pick up tomorrow with a special duel to decide who shall duel who in the Quarterfinals," Smith announces. "Dinner will be at 6, we recommend that the remaining 4 competitors rest up until then."

**00000**

_Tato and _the Quillan Games_ are owned by D.J MacHale, all credit goes to him for having the original idea._

_Tyrant Wing was used by Seto Kaiba against Alistair._

**00000**

Monster Armor

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a monster bonding into a suit of armor. Sacrifice a monster on your side of the field, and special summon a corresponding armor monster from your deck.**_

_**Blue-Eyes Mecha Armor**_

_**Light**_

_**3000/2500**_

_**8**_

_**Dragon/Armor/Effect**_

_**An armor that is granted to the one who is chosen to control the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. This card can only be summoned by playing the card "Monster Armor" and sacrificing Blue-Eyes White Dragon. When this monster destroys an opponent's monster, the opponent loses life points equal to that monster's attack points.**_

_**Millenium Dragon**_

_**Light**_

_**3600/3000**_

_**10**_

_**Dragon/Effect**_

_**After a thousand years, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon has evolved into a mighty dragon that wreaks havoc upon the world, but guards those whom she trusts. This monster can only be summoned when either player uses Time Wizard's ability to advance time.**_

_**Samurai Rescue Force**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of two samurai pulling Yammoto out of a dungeon. Activate this card when "Yammoto, the Noble Samurai" or "Yammoto, the Celestial Avatar" is destroyed as a result of battle. Summon one monster from your deck with "The Six Samurai" in its name from your deck.**_

**00000**

Well, the quarterfinals are over, and so far 4 duelists are still in the tournament, so who's going to duel next?

_**Next chapter, Katie, Aster, Renee, and Ariel compete in a four-way Battle Royale duel to decide who duels who in the semi-finals. What shall be the result? Find out in, "Huge Revolution."**_

_**Don't miss it.**_


	50. Huge Revolution

_All right, before the semi-finals officially begin, we're having a Battle Royale duel, just for fun mostly._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Well, here we go, we're down to four duelists, but in the end, only one will win.**_

_**But now, we have to decide who's going to duel whom in the upcoming semi-finals, which means I have to duel against Renee, Aster, and Ariel at the same time.**_

_**I hope this doesn't come out too badly.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 50:  
HUGE REVOLUTION**

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**00000**

The night before passed without question, and after breakfast the next day, everyone is gathered together on the balcony overlooking the arena, where they are getting instructions for how to proceed.

"Congradulations remaining duelists," Smith says. "You have done well to make it this far in the tournament, but things are just going to get harder from here. To decide who will duel against whom in the semi-finals, we will have a four-way Battle Royale duel between the remaining duelists, the first two duelists to lose shall compete in the second match of the semi-finals, and the two remaining will have their scores reset, and duel after the first two are selected. All duelists must now proceed to the arena."

Katie and Ariel exchange glances, and nod at each other, and the 4 leave the balcony, heading for the arena.

_I'll bet Ariel's been preparing for a re-match with me ever since I beat her back in Dommino City, but I don't know who I should try and face next,_ Katie thinks.

The four duelists step out into the arena, and take places in each of the corners, and activate their duel disks.

"And now, for the arena roulette!" Victoria says, and the lines of code cover the arena walls again.

Suddenly, the ocean appears around them as lightning crashes above them, and winds blow around them, they are standing on small boats in the middle of a stormy ocean in the middle of what appears to be a hurricane.

"Welcome to _**Legacy of Katrina**_, this duel shall be taking place in the middle of a Category 5 Hurricane," Victoria announces. "Don't be alarmed, the setting won't hurt your game at all, just don't fall out of the boat. Now duelists, present your deckmasters!"

"All right, I'll pick Dark Magician Girl!" Katie says, and the female spellcaster appears next to her.

"I'll choose my Maha Vailo," Renee says.

"I'll pick Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious," Aster says.

"And I'll choose, Wingweaver!" Ariel says, and a seven-winged fairy appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The 4 say in unison.

"Since Ariel has the strongest deckmaster, she will go first," Smith says. "Followed by Katie, Renee, and Aster will have the fourth turn."

"All right, lets see here," Ariel says, and draws. _Compared to that Tato Duel, this should be a cinch,_ she thinks. "Alright, I'll start out with Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards. "And lets see how you guys can handle this card, I summon Dark Scorpion-Xain the Demolisher (1550/1500)!" She says, and a man in a leather outfit, and carrying two grenades appears. "I'll end my turn with one card face down."

Katie draws. "Okay, I'll summon my Skilled Black Magician (1900/1700)!" She says, and the lesser dark magician appears. "And I'll place two cards face down to end my turn."

Renee draws next. "I'll play my Guardian Treasure spell card," she says, and discards 5 cards, then draws two. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place a card face down as well."

Aster draws. "All right, I'll start with one face down card, and play Polymerization to fuse together Avian and Burstinadrix to summon the Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer (2100/800)!" He says, and a demonic hero appears. "And now, I'll have him attack Ariel's scorpion, Justice Surge Attack!"

The hero destroys Xain, and Ariel's life points fall to 3550.

"Go trap card, Type Change, this makes Xain's destruction count as being destroyed by an effect, so everyone loses their monsters, and 100 life points for each one!" Ariel calls out, and the 3 monsters explode, dropping Katie, Renee, and Aster's life points all to 3700.

"Fine, I'll end my turn there," Aster says.

Ariel draws. "I'll place this card face down, and activate the spell card Cold Wave!" She says, and a wave passes over everyone's field, freezing the spell and trap cards. "And now, I can attack one of you directly, or all of you if I could, so I summon Don Zaloog!" She says, and the eye-patched thief king appears. "And I'll use this card, Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, so I can summon as many Dark Scorpions from my hand as I can, and I happen to have two, so welcome to the field Gorg the Strong (1800/1500)…"

The bald-headed strongman of the dark scorpions appears, wielding his mace.

"And Ari the Magical (1300/1800!" Ariel continues, and the black robed spellcaster thief appears. "Now, Don, attack Katie directly, Sting of the Scorpion attack!"

The thief king nods, and slashes through Katie with his sword, and her life points fall to 2300.

"And thanks to his effect, I can force you to discard one card from your hand," Ariel continues, and Don Zaloog grabs a card from Katie's hand, and shoves it in the graveyard.

_No, my Dark Magician!_ Katie thinks.

"Gorg, your turn, attack Aster directly, Scorpion Smash Attack!" Ariel continues, and Gorg brings his mace down on Aster, dropping his life points to 1900. "And now, you'll lose one card off the top of your deck!" Ariel continues, and Gorg snatches a card from Aster's deck, and puts it into the graveyard.

_My Doom Lord!_ Aster thinks, horrified.

"And now, Ari, attack Renee directly, Scorpion Magic attack!" Ariel says, and Ari blasts Renee, dropping her life points to 2400. "And thanks to her effect, I can add Dark Scorpion Shiv to my hand," Ariel says, and takes a card out of her deck. "And that's it for me."

_Okay, that was an impressive move from Ariel, now I gotta somehow follow up with something better,_ Katie thinks, and draws. "All right, I'll play my second Skilled Dark Magician!" She says, and the lesser dark magician appears again. "Alright, attack her Gorg with Black Magic Attack!" She commands, and the magician blows away Gorg, dropping Ariel's life points to 3450. "And I'll end my turn there."

"All right, my turn," Renee says, and draws two cards. "I'll play Monster Reborn, and revive my Back-Up Guardian (0/2200), in defense mode!" She says, and the demon appears. "And I'll equip it with Heart of Clear Water, which raises his attack to 500, and that ends my turn."

Aster draws. "All right, I'll summon my Destiny Hero Diamond Dude (1400/1600), in attack mode!" He says, and the diamond hero appears. "And I'll use my deckmaster's ability, by discarding one card from my hand…" he says, discarding a card. "I can revive a Destiny Hero from my graveyard, like Doom Lord!"

A dark hero with white skin and a baldhead, wearing a black pointed uniform appears.

"And I'll use Diamond Dude's ability, so I'll take a look at my top card, and if it's a normal spell, I discard it, and can use it next turn," Aster continues, and shows his next card as a Pot of Greed, and places it in his graveyard. "Now Diamond Dude, attack Ari the Magical, Diamond Slash Attack!"

The diamond studded hero slashes through the spellcaster thief, and Ariel's life points fall to 3350.

"And while I'm at it, I'll use my Doom Lord's special ability, and remove Don Zaloog from the game for two turns!" Aster finishes, and the thief king dissapears. "And that's it for me."

"Just because you guys hurt me, doesn't mean I'm down for the count!" Ariel says, and draws as the storm rages around them. "And I'll set this monster in defense mode, and end my turn with one facedown card."

Katie draws. "All right, I'll play the spell card, Monster Reborn, to bring back my Dark Magician!" She says, and the purple robed magician appears, and Skilled Dark Magician is glowing gold. "All right, I'll sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician to summon my second Dark Magician!" She says, and another Dark Magician appears, this one with red robes, and white hair. "And to follow this up, I'll play Heavy Storm!" She continues, and a storm blows up.

"Sorry, but I'll be protected," Renee says, and a card slips out of her deck. "My Barricade Spell card can be activated at any time, any place on my disk when Heavy Storm is played, and is removed from the game while it protects my spell and trap cards!"

"Now Dark Magician, attack Aster's Diamond Dude with Dark Magic Attack!" Katie commands, and the mage blasts away the diamond hero, and drops Aster's life points to 800. "Now Dark Magician, destroy his Doom Lord, and put him out of the game!" Katie finishes, and the second magician blasts away Aster's monster, and his life points fall to 0.

"Aster Phoenix is out of the Battle Royale, the duel will finish between Ariel Kaiba, Katie Motou, and Renee Lords!" Smith announces, as Aster makes his way out of the arena.

_All right, Katie managed to get Aster out of the duel first, but who's next?_ Wendy thinks, gripping the edge of the railing. _Personaly, I think that a duel between Ariel and Katie should be saved for last, but that still leaves Aster and Renee, I just gotta see how this works out..._

Renee draws two cards. "I play the continuous spell card Equip Transfer, this card allows me to play equip cards without a monster until I decide to equip them to a monster, so I'll play my Butterfly Dagger-Elma!" She says, and the dagger appears on her field. "And that's it for me."

Ariel draws. "All right, I sacrifice my face down monster to summon my Airknight Parsanth (1900/1200)!" She says, and a fairy centaur appeaers. "And now, my deckmaster's ability activates, since I summoned a fairy monster, I can draw an extra card, and get an extra draw as long as one is on my field," Ariel says, and draws. "Perfect, now watch as the field is transformed, I play the field spell, Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Suddenly, the skies open up above them, and a huge castle in the sky appears as the seas rage around them, the hurricane still raging.

"And now, I'll place this card face down, and activate my Rush Recklessly spell card, so I can destroy your Dark Magician Katie! Parsanth, attack with blade of heaven attack!" Ariel commands, and the fairy centaur slashes through the red robed Dark Magician, and Katie's life points fall to 2200 as Ariel draws a card. "And thats it for me."

_Hmm, this duel has been fairly interesting so far, _Marie thinks, absentmindedly shuffling through a deck of playing cards._ Katie knows that if she's going to win against Ariel Kaiba at this point, she's gonna have to step up her game. And what about Renee? She's clearly a very skilled duelist as well, I gotta see how this duel works out._

Katie draws. _The card I got, well, its now or never,_ she thinks. "All right, I sacrifice my Dark Magician to summon this monster, the Sorceress of Shadows (?/?)!" She says, and a raven haired sorceress appears, wearing long silver robes, and carrying a white staff. "She gains half the attack of the sacrificed monster, plus 300 attack for every spellcaster in my graveyard, giving her a total of 2450 attack points. Now Sorceress, destroy Ariel's Airknight, Scepter of Shadows attack!" Katie commands, and the sorceress blasts away the centaur, dropping Ariel's life points to 2800. "And thats it for me, your turn Renee."

Renee draws two cards, and looks at them. _All right, I've got a choice to make, on one hand, I can get rid of Katie's monster, and that will leave her open to whatever Ariel has in store for her next turn, or I could attack Ariel, and win, but then I'd have to face Katie in the semi-finals,_ she thinks. _No matter what, I'm taking a risk, but I doubt I can beat Aster a second time, so here goes..._ "All right, I'll play my Gravity Axe-Grarl! And special summon my Guardian Grarl" She says, and the dinosaur guardian appears, grabbing the axe, rasing his attack to 3500. "All right Grarl, attack Ariel directly, Gravity Axe Smash!" She commands, and the dinosaur smashes through Ariel, and her life points drop to 0.

"The semi finals have been decided!" Smith announces as the holograms fade away. "Katie Motou will duel against Renee Lords, followed up by Ariel Kaiba and Aster Phoenix, you will have half an hour to prepare your decks!"

Katie and Renee nod to each other, and leave through the two sides of the arena.

_It was bound to happen sooner or later, to get to Doppler, I now have to duel one of my best friends..._ Katie thinks.

**00000**

_**Type Change**_

_**Quick-Play Spell**_

_**Image of a monster morphing. Activate this card when your monster is destroyed as a result of battle, the monster's destruction is counted as being destroyed by a card effect.**_

_**Barricade**_

_**Spell**_

_**Image of a barricade defending a town from a storm. This card can be played when your opponent activates Heavy Storm. This card can be activated from your hand or deck.**_

_**Equip Transfer**_

_**Continuous Spell**_

_**Image of Iron Blacksmith Kotesu hammering a sword with Marauding Captain and Command Knight watching. As long as this card is active, the user can play equip cards without equipping them to a monster, until they decide to equip it to a monster.**_

**00000**

**Deckmasters:**

**Wingweaver-Angel Charity: When a fairy monster is summoned, you can draw one card, and draw an extra card in your draw phase for every fairy on your field.**

**Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious-Hero Revival: Discard one card from your hand to revive a Destiny Hero from your graveyard.**

**0000**

_**Well, thats it, the matches have been decided.**_

_**During the Orichalcos incident, Yugi Motou had to face an opponent with a difficult deck strategy, the guardian duelist Raphael. Now, years later, Yugi's daughter and Raphael's daughter have become best friends, but now they must duel each other in order to proceed in the tournament.**_

_**Who will win? Find out in, "Guardian Treasure."**_


	51. Guardian Treasure

_Well ladies and gentlemen, and everyone else._

_Its been fun working on this fanfiction, but we're getting close to the end, and for that reason, I'd like to thank you for your support._

_Anyway, lets continue._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or the Elemental Battleground, which belongs to Teh Rabite._

**00000**

_**Well, here I am, the semi-finals of my first major tournament.**_

_**I remember my dad telling me about the Orichalcos incident, where Yami dueled against Raphael, my friend Renee's father, and lost the first time, so my dad lost his soul in the pharoh's place.**_

_**Now I have to face Renee, the daughter of one of the few duelists to ever defeat my father in a duel, and her own Guardian deck.**_

_**I hope I can win, otherwise we'll all be doomed.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 51:**

**GUARDIAN TREASURE**

**0000000000**

**00000**

Katie and Renee meet in the hallway that leads into the two sides of the arena 20 minutes into the break.

"Renee," Katie says. "We've been friends for a couple of years now, and I guess we should've known that we'd have to face each other in a duel someday, I just want you to promise me one thing."

"Sure, anything you want, Katie, well, anything short of throwing the duel for you of course," Renee says.

"No, nothing like that," Katie says. "I want you to promise me that you'll give this duel all you've got, no matter what, and that when its over, we'll still be friends."

Renee smiles, and nods. "Don't worry, Katie, I promise," Renee says, and the two seperate.

**00000**

10 minutes later, the duel is ready to begin.

"All right, in this corner, we have Katie Motou, the daughter of the legendary King of Games!" Smith announces, and Katie steps into the arena. "As you remember, Katie is using a deck she calls _**Dark Sorcory**_!"

The Dark Magician appears behind her.

"And her opponent, the daughter of one of the few duelists to ever defeat Yugi Motou, the guardian duelist, Renee Lords!" Smith continues, and Renee steps into the arena, adjusting her sunglasses to look at Katie. "And as you remember, she uses a deck called, _**Oath to Serve and Protect**_!"

Guardian Aitos appears behind Renee, and the two monsters clash, exploding in a fury of fireworks.

"And now, the Arena Roulette shall activate!" Victoria announces.

_Everything has been interesting so far, I wonder what's next..._ Katie thinks.

Lines of code covers the walls of the arena, and suddenly they fade away, revealing a huge arena, where energy is crashing around them, huge monsters can be seen fighting in the distance.

"Welcome to the place where the elements battle, where monsters fight for dominance, welcome, to _**Elemental Battlegrounds**_!" Victoria announces, and energy bolts flash again. "Now girls, present your deckmasters, and the duel will begin!"

"All right, I'll pick my Guardian Elma!" Renee says, and the fairy guardian with a butterfly outfit appears.

"And I'll choose, Dark Magician Girl!" Katie says, and the female magician appears.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"All right, I'll go first," Renee says, and draws a card. "And I'll start, with this card, Guardian Treasure!" She says, and discards 5 cards before drawing two. "And I'll set one monster in defense mode, to end my turn."

_All right, if I know Renee, that face down monster has to be an effect monster, probably her Back Up Guardian, but I can't risk it,_ Katie thinks, and draws. "All right, I'll place this card face down, and set a monster in defense mode as well to end my turn."

Renee draws two cards. "I'll flip summon my Back-Up Guardian, and equip him with Heart of Clear Water, then I'll place this card face down to end my turn," she says.

Katie draws. _This is probably a trap, but I won't miss this oppertunity to get an early lead,_ she thinks, and selects a card. "I summon, Neo the Magical Swordsman (1700/1000)!" she says, and the blonde-haired swordsman appears. "Now, attack her demon, magical sword attack!"

The spellcaster charges forward, readying his sword, which is glowing with energy, and cuts through a liquid version of it as Renee's life points fall to 2300.

"It was worth it to use this trap card, Guardian Inferno!" She says, and a huge blaze of fire appears. "This destroys your swordsman, and you lose life points equal to half his attack, and I gain the same amount of life points!" Renee says, and Renee's life points rise to 3150, while Katie's falls to 3150. "And we both get to add one equip card in our decks to our hands," she says, and takes a card out of her deck. _All right, Shadowed Veil-Twilight, I just need the monster to use it._

Katie takes a card out of her deck, and nods. "All right Renee, your move," she says.

_Renee's pretty good, she took a little bit of a risk by letting Katie get an equip card, but it raises her chances of getting a guardian monster out,_ Yugi thinks. _Come on Katie, you can win this._

Renee draws two cards. "All right, I'll switch my Back Up Guardian to defense mode, and equip it with Gem Shield-Ruisen, so I can special summon my Guardian Ruisen to the field (500/3000)!" She says, and a hulking warrior appears. "And I'll switch the Gem Shield to him, and end my turn."

_All right, I doubt the Gem Shield was the card she added with her trap, but there's pleanty of other cards she could've added instead,_ Katie thinks, and draws. "All right, I summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and the lesser dark magician appears. "And I'll play the spell card, Pot of Greed!" She continues, and draws two cards, causing the magician's staff to glow bronze. "And I'll end my turn with one card face down."

Renee draws two cards. _Still not Guardian Twilight, but this will help,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Katie draws. "All right, I'll set one monster in defense mode!" She says. "Now Skilled Dark Magician, attack her face down monster!" She commands, and the magician blasts away the monster, revealing a robed man carrying a dagger. "What? Oh no..."

"Thanks, that was my Arsenal Summoner, now I can add a guardian monster to my hand," Renee says, and removes her deck, looking through the cards before choosing one, and placing it in her hand. _Perfect, now that I have Guardian Twilight in my hand, I just need another monster, and I can summon her,_ she thinks. "Is that all, Katie?"

Katie grins. "Sorry, but no, I'll bet anything that you just added a powerful guardian monster to your hand, so I'm going to get rid of it, with this card, Card Destruction!" She says.

_What, no! _Renee thinks.

"Now we have to discard our entire hands, and draw the same number of cards we just discarded," Katie says, placing 4 cards in her graveyard, and drawing 4, while Renee discards three, and draws three, and Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows silver. "Now I'm done."

"All right, that was impressive, I'll give you that," Renee says, and draws two cards. "But you forgot one important thing, my deckmaster, by discarding one card from my hand..." she says, and shows a Rod of the Mind's eye spell card. "I can return an equip card to my hand," she continues, and takes out her Shadowed Veil-Twilight. "And while I'm at it, I'll play my Monster Reincarnation spell card, so I'll discard another card..." she says, discarding an Armed Charger spell card. "I can take a monster back from my graveyard," she says, and takes Guardian Twilight out of her graveyard. "And now, you're right back where you started, take your turn, Katie."

_Okay, this isn't good, I'll bet the cards she got back where the same cards she took out of her deck before, but what could they be? I'd guess either Guardian Aitos or Guardian Twilight, but that's too obvious..._ Katie thinks, and draws. _Hmm, not bad, this card, combined with the fact that she draws more than once per turn, could be usefull,_ she thinks. "All right, I'll summon Silent Magician LV 4 (1000/1000), in attack mode!" She says, and a young girl dressed in futuristic robes appears. "And I'll end my turn there."

Renee draws two cards, and then Silent Magician's attack goes up to 2000. "That's right, everytime I draw a card, your monster gains a spell counter, and 500 life points..." she mutters. "I'll just set this monster in defense mode, and place one card face down to end my turn," she finishes.

Katie draws. "I'm using my deckmaster's ability, so I can draw one card for every monster in my graveyard, which totals 3," she says, and draws 3 cards. "And I'll now sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician, for Dark Magician!" She says, and the green robed magician appears. "Now, attack her face down monster, Dark Magic Attack!"

The magician twirls his staff, and sends a blast, only to have it stopped by a vortex.

"Sorry, that was my Negate Attack trap card, is that all?" Renee asks.

"Fine, your move," Katie says.

Renee draws two cards, and the Silent Magician's attack goes up to 3000. "All right, I equip my Back Up Guardian with the Shadowed Veil-Twilight!" She says, and a dark veil appears over the demon.

_Oh no, that means she's going to summon her Guardian Twilight... _Katie thinks, straining to remember what the monster does.

"And I'll sacrifice my Guardian Ruisen and my face down monster to summon this, my Guardian Twilight!" She says, and the dark woman in a dress and carrying a sword appears. "And, I'll switch Shadowed Veil to Guardian Twilight!" She says, and the veil falls around the dark princess.

"Guardian Twilight, I thought it was only a legend," Aster says.

"Well clearly its very real," Kaiba says. "I know people who'd give anything to own that card."

"That card can only be controlled by a true Guardian Duelist," Marie says simply. "With such power comes great responsibility," she continues, and shakes her head. _To be honest, the card is cursed, yes it brings the user great luck in the duel, but it drives them mad with power,_ she thinks. _Anyone other than Renee would be corrupted by the card, and driven with a strong lust for power, until they snap, and the card destroys them both mentaly and physicaly._

"Guardian Twilight, attack her Silent Magician, Sword of Shadows attack!" Renee commands, and the dark princess charges forward, slashing through the futuristic magician. "And with my trap card Spirit Barrier, I take no damage, and you lose your monster, plus life points equal to half her attack!" Renee continues, and the Silent Magician explodes, dropping Katie's life points to 1650. "And thats it for me."

_Come on Katie, you've made it this far in the tournament, you can't lose now..._ Wendy thinks.

_Come on Motou, show me what got you this far,_ Ariel says with a smirk, in a strange way enjoying watching Katie squirm while she faces one of her friends.

_Its hopeless, no matter what I do, I can't play anything that could stand up to that guardian monster, I might as well give up now and save myself the embarassment of losing..._ she thinks, and moves to place her hand over her deck.

"Hold it, Katie!" Renee calls out.

"Huh?" Katie asks, stopping suddenly.

"I won't accept winning like that, we promised that we'd give this duel our all, and that's what we're going to do. Remember when we first met? You taught me that no matter how bleak the situation looks, there's always a chance that you can win, with the turn of a card!" Renee calls out.

_That's right, I remember..._ Katie thinks.

**00000**

_Flashback..._

_It was three years ago at school, Renee had just transfered in from France,_ Katie says in a voiceover. _Wendy was out sick that day, and I had become the target of bullies, I tried my best to duel them, but I couldn't win..._

"Princess of Games? More like the princess of lame!" one of the bullies says, as Katie gets hit by a direct attack from a Gearfried the Iron Knight, lowering her life points to 300. "You've barely touched my life points, and you're down to your last 300, and you're the daughter of the great Yugi Motou!"

_He's right, I've got nothing in my hand right now that can beat his knight, and he's going to win next turn if I can't do something, I might as well give up..._ she thinks, and moves her hand to surrender.

"That's right, just surrender and cry like the baby you are!" the bully says, with a laugh, but someone places a hand on Katie's shoulder.

"Why don't you pick on someone your on size?" A girl's voice says in broken Japanese with a little bit of a french accent, but Katie doesn't look up.

"What's it to you, frenchie? This girl means nothing to you!" the bully says.

"But I'm not exactly thrilled about someone picking on someone else that is smaller than them, so I'm going to take over for her!" The girl says, placing a duel disk on her wrist, and her life points set at 300.

"Fine, you'll find out that you made a bad choice, so take your turn," the bully says.

A few minutes later, the bully's scream is heard as he is hit with a direct attack by Guardian Aitos.

"No, you'll regret this!" The bully shouts, and runs away at that point, and the girl kneels down by Katie, offering a hand.

"Here, let me help you," she says, and helps the smaller girl up.

"T-thank you," Katie says nervously looking at the taller girl before composing herself. "That card, Guardian Aitos, how did you get that? My dad told me about it, said it was one of a kind."

"It is, and I got it from my dad, my name is Renee Lords," she says.

"Katie Motou," Katie says.

_Motou? My dad beat her's, heh, fate is strange,_ Renee thinks, and picks up Katie's deck, which had fallen. "Was this the next card you would've drawn?" She asks, and Katie nods. "One draw can change the whole duel, I guess."

_End Flashback..._

**00000**

_And now, I've got to play my hardest, no matter how this duel turns out,_ Katie thinks, and draws her card, then grins. "Thanks for the boost, Renee, I needed it."

_Come on Katie, show me what you've got,_ Renee thinks, crossing her arms.

"I play the spell card, Thousand Knives, which will destroy your Guardian Twilight!" She says, and a barrage of knives slash though the princess, destroying her. "Regretfully, since you still have your Back-Up Guardian, I have to end my turn now, so go ahead Renee, I gave you my best, now its your turn to do the same."

Renee draws two cards, looking at the cards Guardian Aitos and Celestial Sword-Aitos in her hand. _All right, she wants my best, and I've just drawn my best monster, but I can't summon her right now, especialy since I need my Back Up Guardian, so I'll have to pass for now,_ she thinks. "All right, I'll place this card face down, and end my turn."

Katie draws. _Heavy Storm, since Renee probably still has that Barricade card in her deck, I can't use this card right now, and I'll bet anything she's going to try to bring Aitos out, so I need to be ready,_ Katie thinks. "I'll place one card face down, and switch Dark Magician to defense mode, then set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Renee draws two cards. _Well, that's one card I need, I just need the other so this can work,_ she thinks. "I'll pass."

Katie draws. "As will I," she says.

_All right, if I can get the card now, I might be able to win this one,_ Renee thinks, and draws two cards. "Perfect, I play two Soul Release cards, and I'll remove from my graveyard Guardian Twilight, Guardian Ruisen, Arsenal Summoner, and Guardian Baou, plus from your graveyard I'll remove Pot of Greed, Card Destruction, and Thousand Knives cards!" She says, and the seven cards vanish.

_Oh no, she's gotta be summoning Guardian Aitos!_ Yugi thinks. _I don't know if Katie can beat that monster, Yami barely could the second time around... _Yugi thinks, glancing over at Raphael, who is watching in silence.

"And now, I'll equip Back-Up Guardian with Celestial Sword-Aitos!" She says, and a sword falls down, and the demon grabs it. "And since I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon my Guardian Aitos!" She continues, and the fairy guardian decends onto the field. "And I'll switch my Celestial Sword to her!" She says, and Aitos grabs the sword.

_This is it, what she does next will decide the duel... _Katie thinks.

"And now, I'll use her effect, and remove the monsters from your graveyard until I hit a spell card, too bad I removed them all," Renee says, and the spirits of Neo, Skilled Dark Magician, Magician's Valkyria, Magician of Faith, and Silent Magician LV4 appears, and gets sucked into the sword, raising Aitos' attack to 9000. "Now, Guardian Aitos, destroy her Dark Magician!" Renee commands, and the fairy slashes through the spellcaster. "Your move, Katie."

_Too bad she was too focused on my magician, and forgot about my face down monster,_ Katie thinks as she draws. "I play, Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, then discards two. "And I'll place this card face down, and flip summon this monster..." she says, and a wizened old spellcaster appears.

"What... No, that's your Old Vindictive Magician!" Renee says.

"And you know what that means, Guardian Aitos is destroyed!" Katie says, and the spellcaster casts a spell, and Aitos explodes into pixels. "And I'll sacrifice him to summon this, my Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!" She says, and a green-robed spellcaster appears.

"Yeah so, you can't beat me this turn..." Renee says.

"I'm not done yet, I play Stop Defense on your Back-Up Guardian!" Katie says, and the demon stands up. "And I'll play this, Rush Recklessly, raising his attack to 3100, and my face down card, Reinforcements, raising his attack even farther to 3600!"

_Not bad Katie, not bad at all, its been a pleasure dueling, you,_ Renee thinks, and closes her eyes. "Finish it, Katie."

"Its been fun, Chaos Command Magician, finish her off, Chaos Magic Attack!" Katie commands, and the magician blasts at the demon, and Renee's life points fall to 0.

"The winner of the first semi-final match, and will proceed to the finals, Katie Motou!" Smith announces, and the holograms fade away, as the two duelists return to the balcony.

People from the images of Oppressed People, People Running About, and United Resistance appear, and start playing a song:

_More calm than a heartbeat that flatlines  
Quiet like a dark street under the moonlight  
A phrase of action that's been screamed from the guts of men  
Ever since their first experienced injustice, prejudice, discrimination  
A word louder than a gunshot  
And softer than a baby's laugh  
It will pass, just like it always has  
Until it spits off the lips of the next man who's had it up to here  
_  
_**Did somebody say a Revolution?  
Or is it all in my head?  
Is that what it takes to make a solution (your Revolution)  
Not the first or the last to imagine it**_

_Acknowledge the concepts, question and grasp it  
Rebel against the I, bring down the self  
Mutiny me! Overthrow you!  
Rebellion starts within  
The time is now!  
_  
_**Did somebody say a Revolution?  
Or is it all in my head?  
Is that what it takes to make a solution (solution)  
Did somebody say a Revolution?  
Or is it all in my head?  
Is that what it takes to make a solution?  
Your Revolution**_

_Purple skies, devil eyes, hypnotize  
Little lies, compromise, fireflies  
Samurais, parasite, fly by night, after life, materialize  
Look alike, stereotype, do or die, lullaby, black and white  
_  
_**Did somebody say a Revolution?  
Or is it all in my head? (Your Revolution)  
Is that what it takes to make a solution (solution, your Revolution)  
Did somebody say a Revolution?  
Or at least it's been said (your Revolution)  
Is that what it takes to make a solution?**_

Your Revolution (no resolution)  
Your Revolution (What's your solution?)  
Your Revolution (no substitution)  
Your Revolution (no resolution)  
Your Revolution (not your solution)

_Revolution by P.O.D, a song about revolution and what can become of it,_ Katie thinks as the music fades away.

**00000**

_**Guardian Inferno**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of Guardian Ceal being covered in flames. Activate this card when your opponent does damage to your life points. Destroy the monster that attacked, and deal half the monster's attack to the opponent's life points, and gain the same amount of life points.**_

**00000**

_**Well, Katie has made it to the final duel, that leaves only one duel left in the Semi-Finals.**_

_**Next up, Ariel and Aster compete to decide who will duel Katie in the final match. Who will emerge victorious in this duel of divinity and heroics? Find out in, "Dedication Through Light and Darkness."**_


	52. Dedication Through Light and Darkness

_Here we go, chapter 52, lets get going._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Yu-Gi-Oh GX._

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**  
**_**Yeah its me, Ariel Kaiba, you guys know me by now, if you don't, where have you been?**_

_**My life has revolved mostly around Duel Monsters, and being the best I can be at the game that I love, and its paid off, I'm the World Champion for 3 years running, though that title is in jeopardy with Katie in the picture.**_

_**I've faced some interesting opponents to say the least, I can still remember when I dueled Marie Huebner for the first time in the World Championships. It was a close duel, I only won because I used the Chaos Emperor Dragon, and would've lost if I hadn't (turns out she had 4 pieces of Exodia in her hand, and her next card was the last one she needed).**_

_**I've dueled others, including some of the best duelists in the world, including the second king of games, Jaden Yuki.**_

_**My current opponent isn't someone new, I've faced him before, and beaten him before, he's Aster Phoenix, the Destiny Hero duelist.**_

_**I hope I can beat him this time.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 52:**

**DEDICATION THROUGH LIGHT AND DARKNESS**

**0000000000**

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"And now, our last two duelists in the semi-finals shall compete against each other to decide who shall duel in the final match!" Smith announces. "And now, introducing our first duelist, the daughter of the legendary Seto Kaiba, and sporting a deck with dragons, warriors, and fairies, the reigning World Champion, Ariel Kaiba! And as you might remember, she uses a deck she calls _**Divine Trinity**_!"

Ariel steps into the arena, and Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears behind her.

"And her opponent, one of the greatest duelists in history, the Destiny Hero duelist, Aster Phoenix!" Smith continues, and Aster steps into the arena. "And he is using a deck he calls, _**Destiny Call**_!"

Destiny Hero Dreadmaster appears behind Aster.

The two monsters clash, and explode in a fury of fireworks.

"You're not bad, Ariel, you've always beaten me when we've dueled before," Aster says, activating his duel disk. "But this time is different, I pick, my Destiny Hero Dogma!" He says, and the demonic hero appears next to him.

"We'll find out, I'll choose this card, my Kira, Daughter of the Blue-Eyes (2500/2000)!" She says as she activates her duel disk, and a young dragon that looks similar to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears beside her.

"And now, the Arena Roulette activates!" Victoria announces, and lines of code line the walls again.

Suddenly, the arena becomes a baren street with grey identical buildings on either side of them. 4 large buildings stand at each corner of the arena, and a large poster depicting the face of a man, with the words "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU," underneath his face. A huge television screen can be seen on each building, with a clock reading "13:00."

"Welcome duelists, to a dark future! The year is 1984, the setting, London in the supernation of Oceania, from here you can see the four ministries, and the watchfull eye of Big Brother is above us!" Victoria announces. "Welcome to, _**Airstrip One**_!"

"All right, Aster, time to duel!" Ariel says.

"I'll go first," Aster says, and draws a card. "I'll start with one card face down, and summon Destiny Hero Diamond Dude (1400/1600), in defense mode!" He says, and the diamond studded hero appears. "And I will use his effect, I take a look at my next card, and if its a normal spell, I can discard it and use it next turn!" He says, and picks a card up, showing it as Pot of Greed, he puts it in his graveyard. "Your move."

Ariel draws. "I activate the spell card Gift of Draco, now every time I attack with a high level dragon monster, I can draw one card, and now I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place this card face down to end my turn."

Aster draws. "And don't forget, thanks to my monster's effect, I can activate Pot of Greed from my graveyard," he says, and draws two cards. "And I'll play my Fake Hero spell card, and summon my Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000)!" He says, and the green wind hero appears. "And, I'll sacrifice him to summon my Destiny Hero Double Dude!" He says, and a man in a black trench coat and fedora, leaning on a cane appears. "And I'll switch Diamond Dude to attack mode, and have him attack your face down monster!" He commands, and the hero charges forward, slashing at the monster.

Only to get thrown back by a woman in golden robes, playing a harp, and his life points fall to 3400.

"Sorry, that was my Spirit of the Harp (800/2000), is that all?" Ariel asks.

"I'll place this card face down, and its your move," Aster finishes.

Ariel draws, and grins. _This card will let me get out one of my best monsters, if I use it right,_ she thinks. "I play the spell card Summon Catcher!"

"What? How did you get a card that rare!" Aster demands.

"Its a funny story, remind me to tell you sometime. Now I get to take a monster from your hand, and normal summon it to my field," she says, and holograms of Aster's cards appears, and Ariel thinks for a moment before picking one. "I'll take this one, your Destiny Hero Fear Monguer!"

A mechanical hero monster appears.

"And since that doesn't count as my normal summon, I sacrifice my two monsters for this, my Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!" Ariel continues, and the fairy warrior appears. "Now Joan, attack his Double Dude with Searing Light of Heaven attack!" She commands, and the fairy lets out a burst of light, and Aster's life points fall to 1600, and Ariel's rises to 5000. _Okay, this is way too easy, he's gotta be up to something, I better put this face down for insurance,_ Ariel thinks. "I'll set one card face down, and its your turn."

Aster draws, and two demonic looking monsters appear. "Thanks to my Double Dude's effect, I get to summon two Double Tokens (1000/1000 x2). And I'll sacrifice them, and my Diamond Dude, to summon my Destiny Hero Dogma!" He says, and the demonic hero appears.

_I thought so, he led me right into a trap,_ Ariel thinks, edging towards her face down card.

"If you think thats going to help you, your wrong, I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your face down card!" He says, and a face down Negate Attack is blown away. "And now, I'll use the spell card Misfortune, which will lower your life points equal to half the attack of your strongest monster, in this case, 1400!" He continues, and Ariel's life points fall to 3600. "I'll end my turn by playing Clock Tower Prison, and thanks to Dogma, you lose half your life points!" Aster says, and Ariel's life points fall again to 1800.

_Okay, that wasn't good,_ Ariel thinks, and draws, and the Clock that now is part of the clock tower reads "23:15". "Okay, I play my Pot of Charity, I remove my spirit of the harp, and I draw 3 cards," she says, and takes the card out of her graveyard, and draws 3 more cards. "All right, I play the spell card, Discard All, so I can make you discard all monster, spell, or trap cards from your hand, and I choose spell!" She says, and Aster takes one card out, and deposits them into his graveyard. "And now, I'll sacrifice Joan to summon this monster, White Horn Dragon (2200/1400)!" She says, and a huge red dragon with a white horn on its head appears.

"Hold on, Ariel messed up, that monster is weaker than Joan was!" Darren exclaims.

"Not exactly, Darren," Katie says. "White Horn Dragon has a powerful special ability that Ariel can utilize right now."

"And now, I'll use my dragon's effect, and remove up to 5 spell cards from your graveyard, to increase its attack points by 300 for each one, and since you have 5, I'll remove them all, raising its attack points all the way up to 3700!" Ariel continues, and the dragon's horn glows golden, and its attack rises. "Now attack, White Horn Flame attack!" Ariel commands, and the dragon releases a huge burst of fire, that wipes out the demonic hero, lowering Aster's life points to 1300. "Your move, Aster."

_This is a close duel_, Katie thinks. _Ariel is winning currently by only 500 points, but Aster could turn it around at any time._

Aster draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and place this card face down to end my turn," he says.

Ariel draws, and the clock changes again, this time landing on the time 23:30. "I use my own Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroy your Clock!" Ariel commands, and a wind blows up.

"Chain trap card!" Aster calls out, and the tower explodes, but suddenly the muscular form of Dreadmaster bursts into view. "I activated my trap card Eternal Dread at the last moment, so I could summon my Dreadmaster!" Aster explains. "And I can special summon two Destiny Heroes from my graveyard, like Dogma and Diamond Dude!" He says, and the two heroes appears again, raising Dreadmaster's attack to 4800.

"All right, I set one monster in defense mode, and switch my dragon to defense mode to end my turn," Ariel finishes.

Aster draws. "I activate my Gracefull Charity spell card," he says, and draws 3 cards, then discards two. "And I summon my Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious (800/600), in attack mode!" He says, and the muscular hero appears, rasing Dreadmaster's attack to 5600. "Dogma, destroy her Dragon, Destiny Chain attack!" Aster continues, and the demonic hero slashes through the dragon. "Diamond Dude, destroy her face down monster!" He says, and the diamond hero slashes through a clown monster, who re-appears suddenly.

"Sorry Aster, but that was my Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200), and he just hates to say good-bye, so I can remove one from the game to summon another one," Ariel explains.

"Fine, Dreadmaster destroy her second one!" Aster commands, and the giant hero crushes the second clown, and a third appears. "And thats it for me, take your last turn."

Ariel closes her eyes, and draws slowly, and grins when she sees what card it is. "First, I play my own Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, then discards two. "And by removing my White Horn Dragon, and the Don Zaloog I just discarded, I can summon this monster, my Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End!" She says, and a huge demonic dragon appears. "And I'll use his effect, by sacrificing 1000 life points, I can destroy all cards on the field and our hands, and deal you 300 points of damage for each!" She says, and her life points fall to 800. "Now my dragon, _**Ragnarok Inferno**_!" She says, and the entire field is wipedc clear, and Aster's life points fall to 0.

"The winner, and the second duelist in the final match, Ariel Kaiba!" Smith announces, to applause from Ariel's parents, and Mai.

"Joey, shouldn't you be happy? Ariel is your niece you know," Serenity says.

"Ariel just dueled?" Joey asks, causing Mai to smack him upside the head. "I mean, go Ariel!"

As Ariel and Aster enter the balcony, the Archfiends appear in the center of the arena (Terrorking as the lead singer), and begins to play a song.

_This shining city built of __gold__, a far cry from innocence,  
There's more than meets the eye round here, look to the waters of the deep.  
A city of evil.  
There sat a seven-headed beast, __ten__ horns raised from his __head__.   
Symbolic woman sits on his throne, but hatred strips her and leaves her naked.  
The Beast and the Harlot._

_**She's a dwelling place for demons.  
She's a **__**cage **__**for every unclean spirit,  
every filthy bird and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.  
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.**_

_The city dressed in jewels and gold, fine linen, myrrh and pearls.  
Her plagues will come all at once as her mourners watch her burn.   
Destroyed in an hour.  
Merchants and captains of the world, sailors, navigators too.  
Will weep and mourn this loss with her sins piled to the sky,  
The Beast and the Harlot._

_**She's a dwelling place for demons.  
She's a cage for every unclean spirit,  
every filthy bird and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.  
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.**_

_The day has come for all us sinners.  
If you're not a servant, you'll be struck to the ground.  
Flee the burning, greedy city.  
Lookin' back on her to see there's nothing around.  
_  
_I don't believe in fairytales and no one wants to go to hell.  
You've made the wrong decision and it's easy to see.  
Now if you wanna serve above or be a king below with us,  
You're welcome to the city where your future is set forever._

_**She's a dwelling place for demons.  
She's a cage for every unclean spirit,  
every filthy bird and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.  
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.**_

_**She's a dwelling place for demons.  
She's a cage for every unclean spirit,  
every filthy bird and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.  
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.**_

_Avenged Sevenfold's Beast and the Harlot,_ Katie thinks. _A song about the Antichrist, the fakk Babylon, and the rise of what has been going on recently. This is too much of a coincidence._

"We shall break for tonight, the final duel of the Duelist Dimension Tournament will occur tomorrow at 11:00!" Smith announces.

**00000**

That night, Katie is lying down on her bed, thinking about her upcomming duel against Ariel.

_I dueled her once before, and won, but she was holding back then,_ Katie thinks. _Now that its the tournament finals, she's going to majorly step up her game, and so will I._

**00000**

_Summon Catcher is a card used in the manga._

**00000**

_**Discard All**_

_**Spell card**_

_**Image of a duelist taking cards out of their hand. When this card is played, declare either monster, spell, or trap, your opponent must discard all cards of that type from their hand.**_

**00000**

_**All right ladies and gentlemen, we're almost done, and the fanfiction is starting to come into full circle.**_

_**If you can remember back to chapter one, Ariel and Katie dueled for the first time for the last piece of the Millenium Puzzle, Katie won, but Ariel was holding back.**_

_**This time, there is no holding back, this duel will be a winner-take all match.**_

_**Who can win, the daughter of Yugi Motou, or the daughter of Seto Kaiba? Find out in, "Hero Heart."**_

_**Coming soon.**_


	53. Hero Heart

_Everyone knows that throughout the history of Yu-Gi-Oh, there have been a lot of major rivalries._

_The biggest by far is the one between Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou. It began with a duel between the world champion and a virtual nobody, but escalated over the years, until Kaiba finally gave in._

_Now, years later, both Kaiba and Yugi have daughters, they've already dueled once, but one of them was holding back the entire duel._

_Now, the tournament has reached its final duel, and the two of them are set up to duel again._

_Who will win this time? The princess of dragons or the princess of games?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**Well, its down to this, I should've known that this would happen eventually. **_

_**Ever since Ariel showed up in my family's game shop and challenged me to a duel, things have just gotten weirder and weirder.**_

_**I know now that Ariel didn't want to win that first duel, she lost on purpose for some higher reason that she has yet to tell me about, and nor can I guess easily.**_

_**But now, both of us are going to go all out, because one of us is going to duel against Victoria Pegasus for the title of Queen of Games.**_

_**I can only hope that my best will be enough.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 53:**

**HERO HEART**

**0000000000**

**00000**

_This is it, today is the last day of the tournament,_ Katie thinks as she wakes up the next morning. _And I have to duel against Ariel Kaiba again._

She gets up, and starts to get dressed.

**00000**

When she comes in for breakfast, everyone else is already there, eating and chatting away.

"Hey Katie, over here, we saved a seat for you!" Renee says, and Katie takes a seat between Renee and Wendy.

"So anyway, Mechmaster and his Acolytes have me cornered with a death ray pointing right at my head, and guess what happens?" Marie says, telling a story.

"He starts monolging," Aster says.

"He starts monolging, saying how feeble I am, how the world shall soon be his! The guy has me in the palm of his hand, and he won't shut up!" Marie exclaims. "I mean, is it like villain tradition that when you have the hero trapped, you start ranting and rambling about their plans?"

"You know, she has a point," Ariel says, she's sitting across from Katie. "So Katie, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Katie says, and shrugs. "It's interesting, I've gotten used to this virtual world, it's like it's the real world almost, but today is our last day here, then we go home, after our duel of course."

"Yeah, and may the best duelist win!" Ariel says.

"Oh and if Mechmaster wasn't bad enough, don't even get me started on the Misfits, they're not even bad guys, but they come over every freakin' day!" Marie complains. "You can never get a moment of peace in the institute because of them!"

"Uh-huh," Aster says boredly, trying to sound interested.

When 10:45 rolls around, Smith comes into the dining room.

"Attention tournament competitors and guests, the final duel of the Duelist Dimension tournament between Ariel Kaiba and Katie Motou will occur in exactly 15 minutes, your host requests that you proceed to the arena at this point," he says, and everyone stands up, and leaves the dining room through the door, heading for the arena.

**00000**

Five minutes before the duel officially begins, Katie is making some last minute preparations before her duel against Ariel in the hallway leading to the arena.

_Ariel is a good duelist; I saw that firsthand when I dueled with her against the Robo siblings,_ Katie thinks. _If I can win this duel, I'll have the opportunity to duel Victoria Pegasus, and then I might have the chance to learn more about Doppler, I know that she's here somewhere._

At exactly 11:00, the announcement goes out that the duel was about to begin.

"And now, the final duel in the Duelist Kingdom finals will begin! And the first duelist, you know her by now; she's the daughter of Yugi Motou, the rising star, Katie Motou!" Smith announces, and Katie steps into the arena. "And she will be using a deck she calls, _**Dark Sorcery**_."

Katie activates her duel disk, and Dark Magician appears behind her.

"And her opponent, the ranking world champion, and the daughter of Seto Kaiba, Ariel Kaiba!" Smith says, and Ariel steps into the arena, looking at Katie. "And she uses a deck called _**Divine Trinity**_!"

Ariel activates her duel disk, and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears behind her.

The two monsters clash, and explode in fireworks.

"And now, before we start, our host, Miss. Victoria Pegasus would like to say a few words," Smith says, and Victoria stands up to address the duelists.

"Congratulations, ladies, you're the finest in the world!" Victoria says. "Out of all the duelists that where invited to compete in this tournament, only the two of you remain, you are truly the best of the best. And as you might've guessed, the winner of this duel will have the option to duel against me, and if you are to win, you will have bestowed upon you the title of Queen of Games!

"But unlike before, the arena shall not be chosen by roulette, you shall compete in a pre-selected arena for this duel, an arena designed to be fit for a queen!"

There is suddenly a burst of code all over the walls, and the arena morphs and melds. This time forming a huge throne room, covered in ornate tapestries, and with paintings of the cards Queen Curran and Queen Pikeru (Pikeru above Ariel, Curran above Katie) on opposite sides of the arena, and off to the corner in the exact center of the arena, a large golden throne, and a crown on a pillow to the side. Painted onto the ceiling is an image of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Buster Blader in the middle of an epic battle.

"Here, beneath the paintings of the two spellcaster Queens of the Duel Monsters world, we shall crown a new Queen, welcome to _**Throne Room of the Mystics**_!" Victoria announces, and waves her arm. There is a sudden rush of code again, and Katie and Ariel's outfits change suddenly.

Katie is wearing a black silken dress, with silver trim, and her usually long, untidy blonde hair is tied back into a bun, and has a magician's staff strapped to her back, and a silver crown encrusted with ruby, emerald, and a sapphire gems.

Ariel is wearing an elegant golden dress, with a sword strapped to her side; her own crown is golden, encrusted with a diamond and two amethysts.

"You two are dueling for the title of Queen, so it is only fitting that you dress for the part, now the duel shall begin with the choice of deckmasters!" Victoria announces.

_I hate dresses,_ Katie thinks, but takes a card out of her deck nonetheless. "I choose, my Dark Magician Girl!" She says, and the female magician appears next to her, twirling her wand and giggling.

_"That dress looks good on you, Katie," _the magician says, and Katie just shakes her head.

"Hmm, I think I'll choose, my White-Horned Dragon!" Ariel says, and the red dragon with a white horn appears next to her.

"LET'S DUEL!" They say in unison.

_So, the duel between Katie Motou and Ariel Kaiba has begun, and the fate of the world is in their hands,_ Doppler thinks from her shadowy hiding place.

"I'll go first," Katie says, drawing. "And I'll start with one card face down, and summon my Gemini Elf (1900/900), in attack mode!" She says, and the twin elves appear. "And that's it for me."

Ariel draws a card. "I'll set one card face down as well, and set this monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Katie draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and have my elves attack your face down monster, dual magic attack!" She commands, and the elves send a blast of magic at the face down monster, which is a three-eyed furry demon.

"Thanks, that was my Sangan (1000/600), so I can add a monster with 1500 attack or fewer to my hand," she says, and takes a card out of her deck. _And Don Zaloog will do just fine,_ she thinks.

"Fine, I'll end my turn there," Katie says.

Ariel draws. "I play my Pot of Greed spell card," she says, and draws two cards. "And I'll play my Messenger of Peace spell card, so no monster over 1500 attack points can attack as long as this card is active, and I'll summon my Dark Scorpion-Meanae the Thorn, in attack mode (1000/1800)!" She says, and the female thief appears, cracking her whip. "And thanks to my Secret Pass to the treasures, she can attack you directly this turn, so hit her Meanae, Scorpion Whip attack!" Ariel says, and the female thief lashes at Katie with her whip, dropping her life points to 3000. "And now I can add one of her teammates to my hand," she says, and takes a card out of her deck. _Gorg the Strong, just two more and I'm ready,_ she thinks. "Your move, Katie."

Katie draws. _Darn, I've got nothing that's low enough to attack her thief, but at least she can't hit me directly again,_ Katie thinks. "I'll pass."

Ariel draws and her life points fall to 3900. "Now, I play the spell card Dark Scorpion Sneak Attack, so Meanae can attack you directly for half her attack, so hit her with your Scorpion Whip attack!" Ariel commands and the female thief lashes at Katie again, lowering her life points to 2500. "And again, I can add one of her teammates to my hand," she continues, and takes a card out of her deck, and puts it into her hand. _Cliff the Trap Remover, just one more and I'm set,_ she thinks. "Your move, Katie."

Katie draws. "All right, I'll sacrifice my face down monster to summon my Chaos Command Magician!" She says, and that ends my turn."

"I won't pay the life point cost this turn," Ariel says, and Messenger of Peace is destroyed, and she draws a card. "I play, the Vase of Unholy Blight, so I discard a dark monster from my deck, and draw 3 cards," she says, and takes a card out of her deck, and places it in the graveyard, before drawing 3 cards. "And I'll play Monster Reincarnation, by discarding one card, I can take a monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand," she says, and takes discards a card, and takes another card from her graveyard. "And now, I'll summon Don Zaloog (1400/1500)!" She says, and the eye patched thief appears.

"Huh? What's the point?" Katie asks. "Your monster is weaker than both of mine, and I'm free to attack on my turn."

"Too bad you won't have any monsters, because I play, Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, this allows me to summon as many Dark Scorpions in my hand as I can, since Don Zaloog is on the field," Ariel explains. "So come on out, Chick the Yellow (1000/1000)!"

The yellow-haired thief, wielding a hammer appears.

"Gorg the Strong (1800/1500)!"

The bald-headed strongman of the Dark Scorpions appears, wielding a mace.

"And to finish things off, Cliff the Trap Remover!"

The dagger-wielding master of disarment appears.

"There's something I don't get..." Joey says.

"There's a lot of things you don't get, Wheeler," Kaiba says.

"Seto, you promised not to be mean to Joey," Serenity says. "What is it, Joey?"

"Well, its Ariel's deck," Joey says. "I mean, she has a combination of mostly dragons, warriors, and fairy monsters, why is that?"

"Joey, its simple," Yugi points out. "Her deck is a combination of the strategies of three members of her family, her father's dragons, her mother's fairies, and your warriors, minus any gamble cards, naturaly."

"Okay, so you where able to summon the 5 original members of the Dark Scorpions, whats the point? They're all too weak to destroy my monsters, unless..." Katie says.

"Unless I have a face down card that will help me, which I do, I activate the trap card, Dark Scorpion Combination, so my 5 thieves can attack you directly for 400 attack each!" Ariel says, and the five thieves ready themselves for the attack. "First, Don Zaloog attacks you with Sting of the Scorpion attack!"

The thief king slashes at Katie.

"Then Meanae attacks with Scorpion Lash!"

The female thief lashes at Katie with her whip.

"Chick, hit her with Scorpion Smash attack!"

The blonde-haired thief strikes Katie with his hammer.

"Gorg, attack with Scorpion Bash attack!"

The strongman hits Katie with his mace.

"And Cliff, attack with Scorpion Slash attack!"

The master of disarment slashes through Katie with his dagger.

Katie groans as her life points fall to 500.

"And now their special abilities are activated, first chick returns one of your monsters to your hand," she says, and the elves dissapear into Katie's hand. "And then Don discards it," Ariel continues, and Don snatches the elves out of Katie's hand. "Then Gorg sends one card to the top of your deck, and I can make you discard it with Cliff!" Ariel says, and one more card vanishes, then gets shoved into the graveyard with another card. "Now I can take a card out of my deck or graveyard with Dark Scorpion in its name," she continues, and takes a card out of her deck. "And I'll end my turn with one face down card."

_I can't believe it, its the last duel of the finals, I've made it this far, and I'm getting my butt handed to me by my opponent, I can see why she's the World Champion,_ Katie thinks, and draws. "Okay, I'll admit that was impressive, but it'll take more than that to beat me, I summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and the spellcaster appears. "Chaos Command Magician, destroy Meanae!" She continues, and the green-robed magician blasts away the female thief, lowering Ariel's life points to 2500. "Now, Skilled Dark Magician, destroy Don Zaloog, black magic attack!" Katie commands, and the magician blasts away the theif king, lowering Ariel's life points to 2000. "And its your move."

Ariel draws. "Okay, I switch my remaining thieves to defense mode, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says.

Katie draws. "I'll place this card face down, and then destroy it with my Emergency Provisions spell card, raising my life points to 1500, plus the card I destroyed was called Gift of Pikeru, whenever its destroyed, I gain 500 more life points!" She says, and her life points rise to 2000, and the Skilled Dark Magician's staff is glowing silver. "All right, I summon Breaker the Magical Swordsman (1600/1000 + 300) in attack mode!" She says, and a spellcaster in warrior's armor appears, his shield glowing. "And I'll use his effect, to destroy your face down card!" Katie says, and the glow is gone, and a face down card that is evidently Ariel's Great Escape trap card shatters, and Breaker's attack falls back to 1600.

_Okay, that was impressive, she managed to both raise her life points up to tie with my own, and destroy a potentialy dangerous trap card, she deffinately is good, but I've got to be better, and get this duel over with so I can get out of this stupid dress,_ Ariel thinks.

"Chaos Command Magician, destroy her Cliff the Trap Remover!" Katie commands, and the magician blasts away Cliff. "Breaker, destroy Gorg!" She continues, and the warrior mage's sword glows with magical energy, and slashes through the strongman. "Your move, Ariel."

Ariel draws. "I play, Pot of Generosity, this lets me shuffle two cards in my hand back into my deck," she says, and takes two cards out of her hand, and shuffles them into her deck. "Now you're probably wondering what the point of this was, I'm going to use my deckmaster's special ability, because I've played 5 spell cards, I can remove them from the game..." she says, and takes 5 cards out of her graveyard. "And special summon one dragon monster to the field that has attack and defense points that are a multiple of 500..."

_What? Oh no, that means she can summon..._ Katie thinks.

"I choose, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Ariel says, and the magnificent white dragon appears with her trademark roar. "The only disadvantage is that I can't normal summon this turn, and any damage I deal this turn is reduced by half, so Blue-Eyes, destroy her Magical Warrior, White Lightning attack!" She commands, and the dragon blasts away the spellcaster warrior, and lowers Katie's life points to 1300. "Your move, Katie."

_Okay, that wasn't good, but at least I raised my life points last turn, otherwise I'd be doomed,_ she thinks, and draws, before grinning. "I sacrifice my two monsters to summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" She says, and the purple robed magician appears. "And I'm going to play a card that might seem familiar to you, my own Monster Armor spell card!"

"What? Katie has a Monster Armor card too!" Wendy says in shock, remembering the card that Ariel had used against her.

Ariel was equaly shocked. _Monster Armor, thats an extremely rare card, and not to mention hard to use, but I'm guessing she's got the right monster to use at this point,_ she thinks.

"And I combine it with my Dark Magician, to form the Dark Mage Armor (2500/2100)!" Katie says, and a suit of deep purple armor appears on her, and the familiar magician's staff reforms, creating a laser sword.

"What's the point? Her monster didn't gain any attack points," Joey says.

"Joey, you of all people should know that Armor monsters have dangerous effects, and I'll bet anything that Katie's armor is no different," Yugi points out.

"And now, I'll use the effect of my armor, by removing two spell cards in my deck from the game, I can increase its attack points by 600 for this turn, enough to destroy your dragon!" She says, and takes two cards out of her deck as the armor's attack rises to 3100, before readying her sword. "Now, I'll attack, Dark Magic Saber attack!" She says, and charges forward, slashing through the Blue-Eyes, lowering Ariel's life points to 1900. "Your move, Ariel."

_Thankfully, her armor's effect only lasts until the end of her turn,_ Ariel thinks as she draws. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Katie draws. "I'll attack your face down monster, Dark Magic Saber attack!" She says, and slashes through the monster, only to reveal a metalic grinning monster.

"That was my Cyber Jar!" Ariel says, and the jar sucks in all monsters on the field, and both players pick up 5 cards. "I'll set two monsters, and summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200), and Cave Dragon (2000/100)!" She says, and a vicious looking monster carrying a sword appears, followed by a sleepy-looking dragon.

"Fine, I'll summon my second Skilled Dark Magician, and set one monster in defense mode, and place this card face down, that's it for me," Katie says.

Ariel draws. "Katie, its been fun, but I'm gonna have to win, I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and the saphire dragon appears. "Now Cave Dragon, attack her Skilled Dark Magician!" Ariel commands, and the dragon sends a burst of fire at the magician.

"Sorry, go trap card, Magic Cylinder!" Katie counters, and the attack gets sucked into a large cylinder, and gets fired back at Ariel, who closes her eyes in acceptance as the attack hits her, and lowers her life points to 0.

"Good duel, Katie, you truly are a gifted duelist, and quite worthy of the title Queen of Games," Ariel says, and starts walking out of the arena, as her clothes return to normal.

"Ariel, you did well," Katie says, and Ariel turns to look at her, then gives her the thumbs up, and smiles. "And I hope we'll duel again."

"You can count on it," Ariel says, before stepping into the hallway.

"Congradulations Katie Motou, you have successfuly made it through the Duelist Dimension tournament, and you have gained a prize that you will find usefull, please, take a seat on the throne," Victoria says.

Katie shrugs, and steps up to the throne, taking a seat. The crown next to her floats up, and rests on her head.

Suddenly she gets flashes of images.

First, Chicago, still under repairs from World War III, and a strange pentagram forming around it.

Then a man with long sea-green hair, and wearing white robes with the same symbol on a necklace.

The vision ends with the sight of a shadowy man sitting upon a throne.

Katie snaps out of it, and stands up as the arena fades away, and her clothing returns to normal.

_Okay, that was strange,_ she thinks.

"And now, if you so desire, you have earned the right to challenge me to a duel to get the title of Queen of Games, a title that shall echo through the ages!" Victoria announces. "What is your answer, Katie Motou?"

"Ms. Pegasus, I accept your offer," Katie says, and Victoria smiles.

"Very well then, the duel between Katie Motou and Victoria Pegasus shall occur in exactly half an hour, everyone rest up and get ready before then," Smith announces, and Katie leaves the arena.

One last time, the Musician King appears on the field, and starts playing an old Bob Dylan song.

_Come gather 'round people  
Wherever you roam  
And admit that the waters  
Around you have grown  
And accept it that soon  
You'll be drenched to the bone.  
If your time to you  
Is worth savin'  
Then you better start swimmin'  
Or you'll sink like a stone  
For the times they are a-changin'._

Come writers and critics  
Who prophesize with your pen  
And keep your eyes wide  
The chance won't come again  
And don't speak too soon  
For the wheel's still in spin  
And there's no tellin' who  
That it's namin'.  
For the loser now  
Will be later to win  
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen  
Please heed the call  
Don't stand in the doorway  
Don't block up the hall  
For he that gets hurt  
Will be he who has stalled  
There's a battle outside  
And it is ragin'.  
It'll soon shake your windows  
And rattle your walls  
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers  
Throughout the land  
And don't criticize  
What you can't understand  
Your sons and your daughters  
Are beyond your command  
Your old road is  
Rapidly agin'.  
Please get out of the new one  
If you can't lend your hand  
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn  
The curse it is cast  
The slow one now  
Will later be fast  
As the present now  
Will later be past  
The order is  
Rapidly fadin'.  
And the first one now  
Will later be last  
For the times they are a-changin'.

Katie had to stop and think at this point.

Each of the songs that had played at the end of the duels had a different meaning, but seemed to have a connection in some way to the current state the world was in.

Tenative was about warfare and revolution, but questioning authority as much as ever.

I Need a Hero was about the need for a savior or a hero, some people believed that the messiah would come at the end of the period that was known as the Tribulation.

A Place for my Head was about tragedy and overcoming it.

American Pie, while it was originaly meant to honor Buddy Holly, was a song that could be connected to trials and tribulations of any time period.

Revolution couldn't be more obvious, it was about the need for revolution, but also raising the question as to whether or not revolution is really necessary.

Beast and the Harlot could be connected to the biblical prophescies of the end of the world, which many believed was comming, and references to Babylon.

And The Times they are a Changin', a song about the passage of time, and how things seem to change, but in reality never do.

What was the significance of having these particular songs being played?

**00000**

_**Dark Mage Armor**_

_**Dark**_

_**7**_

_**2500/2100**_

_**Machine/Armor/Effect**_

_**This suit of armor houses the powers of the legendary Dark Magician, and the owner can work as such. This card can only be special summoned by sacrificing "Dark Magician" by the effect of "Monster Armor." Once per turn, remove two spell cards in your deck from the game to increase this monster's attack points by 600.**_

**00000**

_**Deckmasters-**_

_**White Horned Dragon-Dragonic Force: After the user of this card plays 5 spell cards, remove all 5 cards from the game to special summon a dragon monster with attack points that are a multiple of 500 from your deck to the field. When this effect is used, the user cannot normal summon during this turn, and all damage that turn is cut in half.**_

**00000**

_**Well, this is it, Katie has won against Ariel, and its time for her to take on Victoria Pegasus, as the conclusion draws near.**_

_**Who shall win as the daughter of Yugi Motou duels against the daughter of Maximillion Pegasus? What kind of deck will Victoria use? What does Doppler have to do with all of this? Find out these answers and more in chapter 54, "Light of Intervention."**_

_**Coming soon...**_


	54. Light of Intervention

_We're getting closer to the end…_

_This is the last duel, before the final game of the fanfiction._

_Let us see how this will turn out._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**This is it; everything that's happened this tournament comes down to this moment.**_

_**I don't know if this lady has any sinister plans, but I can sense that something is definitely wrong here.**_

_**And now, the dark must prevail over the light.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 54:**

**LIGHT OF INTERVENTION**

**0000000000**

**00000**

30 minutes later, everyone is ready for the duel.

"Now, join me in welcoming our challenger, the winner of the Duelist Dimension tournament, you know her better as Katie Motou!" Smith announces, as Katie steps into the arena to cheers from her friends and family. "And as you know, she uses a deck she calls _**Dark Sorcery**_!"

"And her opponent, the daughter of the creator of Duel Monsters, the legendary Victoria Pegasus!" Smith continues, and Victoria walks into the arena, taking a deck from a guard, who exits behind her. "And she will be using a deck she calls, _**Warriors of Sol**_!"

_Okay, this is it, my friends and family are watching, and now I have to prevail over the daughter of the creator of this game, _Katie thinks, as she looks at Victoria on the other end of the arena.

"Well, it's good to finally face you in a duel, Katie," Victoria says with a small smile. "Now, activate the Arena Roulette!"

The arena around them begins to glow, and suddenly water begins poring around them, and begins swelling at their feet.

Then Katie realizes that they're both standing on platforms, facing off with a huge whirlpool beneath their feet, and a cave high above them.

"Ahh, perfect, welcome Katie, to the legendary _**Straight of Messinah**_!" Victoria says with a laugh. "Now, we must duel with Charybdous bellow us and Scylla above, can you succeed?"

"I can try," Katie says, and takes a card out of her deck. "I'll pick as my deckmaster, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic!"

A dark spellcaster carrying a staff appears.

"And I'll pick, my Kaiser Seahorse!" Victoria says, and a seahorse warrior appears behind her. "Since this is my tournament, I'll go first," she says, and draws.

"Hey Yug, what kind of deck do you think she'll use?" Joey asks.

"To be honest, I don't know, her father used toons, but she doesn't seem the type to use such kiddy monsters," Yugi says.

"I agree," Ariel says, and crosses her arms. _Come on Katie, win this duel and prove your worthy as this world's hero,_ she thinks.

"Alright, I'm going to summon my Marauding Captain (1200/400), in attack mode!" Victoria says, and a battle-scarred warrior appears on her field. "And since I normal summoned him, I can automatically special summon another level 4 or lower monster from my hand, and I'll pick my Queen's Knight (1500/1600)!" She says, and a female warrior appears next to the captain. "Now, I'll place one card face down, and activate the spell card, Allied Forces, raising both my monster's attack points by 400," she says, and the Captain's attack goes up to 1600, and the Queen Knight's goes up to 1900.

"Oh, I get it," Renee says. "Victoria uses warrior monsters, and by the looks of it, most of her monsters are warriors of light, that could be trouble for Katie."

Katie draws. "Alright, I'll place one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says.

Victoria draws. "Alright, I'll now summon my King's Knight (1600/1500 + 600), in attack mode!" she says, and a male warrior in golden armor appears. "And now, I can summon my Jack's Knight (1900/1000 + 800) from my deck!" She says, and a blue armored warrior appears.

"Oh no, she has enough firepower to finish Katie off this turn!" Darren says in realization.

"Have faith, people, this game isn't over yet," Wendy says, but even she isn't sure.

_Okay, she has those three monsters on the field, which means there are two dangerous possibilities for what is coming next, _Marie thinks.

"Now, I'm going to activate, Polymerization!" Victoria says, and the three monsters are all sucked into a vortex. "So I can fuse together all my monsters, to summon the mighty _**Arkana Knight Joker**_(3800/2500)!"

And then, a far more powerful-looking knight leapt out of the vortex. His armor suggested royalty, and was colored royal purple, again decorated with playing card symbols, and he bore a large sword and a triangular shield. His golden blonde hair fell to his waist. His eyes were pools of brilliant light.

"Oh man, this is bad," Darren says.

_The Arkana Knight Joker is one of the most powerful monsters in the game, I should've known that Victoria would use something powerfull, but I didn't really expect warriors, oh well,_ Katie thinks.

"Joker, attack her face down monster, Sword of the Heavens attack!" Victoria commands, and the knight slashes through a monster, that is revealed to be a wizened old magician.

"All right, that was her Old Vindictive Magician, now she can destroy that warrior!" Darren says.

"I don't think its that easy," Wendy says solemnly.

"Nice try, but watch and learn, by discarding one monster card from my hand..." Victoria says, discarding a card that Katie recognizes as a monster called Disciple of the Forbidden Spell. "I can negate your monster's effect!"

The magician fizzles out.

"And its your move Katie," Victoria finishes.

Katie draws. "I'll place another card face down, and set this monster in defense mode to end my turn," she says. _Thankfully, her knight's effect can only be activated when he's targeted by a card effect,_ she thinks.

Victoria draws. "I play, Gracefull Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards before discarding two cards. "And lets welcome to the field, my third Disciple of the Forbidden Spell (1700/800), in attack mode!" She says, and a young man appears. "And thanks to his effect, I can name two attributes, one for each other Disciple in my graveyard, and he'll automaticaly destroy any monster he battles, and I'll pick, light and dark!"

"Oh no, most of Katie's monsters are light and dark types!" Renee says.

"Thats why she declared those two types, it puts Katie at a massive disadvantage," Ariel says. "Warrior decks can be very tricky, and not to mention Victoria still has her Marauding Captain in play, so even if Katie gets a strong enough monster, she can't attack Victoria's Arkana Knight or even her Disciple."

"Now Arkana Knight Joker, destroy Katie's face down monster!" Victoria commands, and the knight slashes through a Mystical Elf. "Now Disciple of the Forbidden Spell, attack her directly with forbidden magical slash!" She commands, and the disciple charges forward.

"Sorry, but go trap cards, first my Magic Arm Shield, to grab your Arkana Knight Joker, and then my Hand Vanishing, which will remove your entire hand from the game, but you can draw 5 cards when you end your turn, so I can take your Arkana Knight, and defend myself with it!" Katie says, and Victoria discards her hand, as two claspers grab the Arkana Knight, putting it right in the path of Disciple's attack. "And lets not forget, the knight is a light monster, which means your own monster's effect automaticaly destroys him!" Katie continues, and the disciple slashes through the knight.

"Yeah, and neither of us lose life points," Victoria says, and smiles. "I'll admit Katie, that was a good move, I've never had someone use my Disciple's effect against me like that, you should be proud."

Katie shrugs. "Well, I try my best."

"But I'm not done with you, Marauding Captain, attack her life points directly!" Victoria commands, and the warrior slashes through Katie, lowering her life points to 2800. "And that's it for me."

Katie draws. _This will have to do, otherwise I'll risk another attack_, she thinks. "I'll set this monster in defense mode, and its your turn."

Victoria draws. "Marauding Captain, attack her face down monster!" She commands, and the captain charges forward, slashing at the monster.

Only to get sucked in, as well as the Disciple of the Forbidden Spell, by a Cyber Jar, which then explodes.

"Sorry Victoria, but I still have my Cyber Jar, so lets get this over with," Katie says, and picks up 5 cards. "I'll summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) and my Gemini Elves (1900/900), both in attack mode!" She says, and the lesser dark magician, and the twin elves appears.

Victoria picks up 5 cards as well. "I'll set one monster, and summon Sasuke Samurai #4 (1200/1200), in attack mode!" She says, and a small samurai carrying a weapon appears. "And I think I'll use him to attack your Skilled Dark Magician!" She says, and the samurai charges forward.

"Huh? Why are you doing that?" Katie asks.

"Because whenever my Samurai battles a monster, I can flip a coin, and if I call it correctly, the opponent's monster is automaticaly destroyed, and I call heads!" She says, and a coin flips, landing on heads, and the Skilled Dark Magician shatters. "One card face down, your move, Katie."

_Great, I'm down to 2800 life points, and she hasn't lost any, I've got to think of something,_ Katie thinks, and draws. "All right, I sacrifice my Gemeni Elves to summon my Dark Magician Girl!" She says, and the female spellcaster appears with a gigle and a twirl of her wand. "Now attack her samurai, Dark Burning Attack!" Katie commands, and the magician fires a burst of magic at the small samurai.

"Tails!" Victoria announces, but the coin lands on heads, and the samurai is blown away, lowering Victoria's life points to 3200. "Go trap card, Judgement of the General, since you destroyed a warrior monster, you lose 500 life points!" Victoria says, and Katie screams as a sword flies at her, and lowers her life points to 2300.

"That card, Paul used it against me when we dueled..." Ariel mutters. "Katie needs to be careful with what cards she plays."

"Victoria's doing pretty well, and she's not even using her legendary card yet," Aster comments.

"Legendary card?" Darrius asks.

"Its just a rumor, but some people say that Victoria has a very rare and powerful monster, one of a kind that she only summons on special occasions," Aster says. "They say that her deck contains, a goddess."

"One card face down, your move Victoria," Katie says.

Victoria draws. "I'll sacrifice my face down monster to summon this monster, Freed the Matchless General (2300/1700)!" She says, and a soldier with long blonde hair, and a short beard appears. "Now, attack her Dark Magician Girl, Sword of the Battle Scarred attack!" She commands, and the general draws a sword, and slashes at the spellcaster.

"Go trap card, Magician's Protection, this protects my Dark Magician Girl from being destroyed for this turn, but I still take damage," Katie counters, and a circle of protection surrounds Dark Magician Girl as the attack hits, she pushes the general back, but Katie's life points fall to 2000. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, take your turn," Victoria says.

Katie draws a card. "I play, Sage's Stone, so I can special summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100) to the field!" She says, and the purple robed Dark Magician appears, electing a giggle from his female counterpart. "And I'll use my Dark Magic attack spell card, to destroy all your spell and trap cards!" She says, and the spellcaster blows away Victoria's magic and trap cards. "Now Dark Magician, destroy her Freed!" Katie commands, and the magician blows away the general, lowering Victoria's life points to 2900. "Now Dark Magician Girl, attack her directly!" She continues, and the female magician lets loose a fury of hearts, that strikes Victoria, and lowers her life points further to 900. "One card face down, your move."

Victoria draws. "I play my Pot of Charity, by removing one of my Disciples of the Forbidden Spell from the game, I can draw 3 cards," she says, and then draws 3. "And I'll place one card face down, then get rid of it with my Emergency Provisions!" She says, and a Beckoning Light spell card is swallowed by a mouth, and Victoria's life points rise to 1900. "And Now, I'll play Re-Fusion, by paying 800 life points..." she says, and her life points fall to 1100. "I can revive a fusion monster, like my Arkana Knight Joker!" She says, and the warrior of light appears again.

_Great, and I've got nothing that can beat it..._ Katie thinks.

"And now, I'll play my De-Fusion spell card, to return my knight to its original 3 monsters, King's Knight (1600/1400), Queen's Knight (1500/1600), and Jack's Knight (1900/1000)!" She says, and the 3 royal monsters appears. "And now, I can sacrifice them to summon this, the Lux God, _**Divine Mistress of the Sun**_ (?/?)!" She says, and a beautiful woman in long flowing robe appears with the sun breaking through the clouds. "And she now gains attack and defense points equal to the total attack and defense of the three monsters I sacrificed!" She says, and the monster's attack goes up to 5000/4000. "Now, destroy her Dark Magician Girl!" She commands, and the goddess sends a burst of light at the female spellcaster.

"Oh no, if this attack hits, Katie will lose the game!" Renee says in shock.

"It can't end like this..." Marie mutters.

"Sorry, but go spell card, Shrink, this will lower your monster's attack by half!" Katie counters, and the goddess' attack lowers to 2500, but the attack still goes through, and destroys the Dark Magician Girl, lowering Katie's life points to 1500. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, take your turn," Victoria says.

Katie draws a card, and glances at Victoria's monster. _I'll have to save this card for later, but it will come in handy eventualy,_ she thinks. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and switch my Dark Magician to defense mode, and end my turn."

Victoria draws. "I summon my Warrior Dai Grephar (1700/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and a muscular warrior carrying a sword appears. "Now Divine Mistress, destroy her Dark Magician!" She commands, and the goddess destroys the spellcaster with a huge burst of light. "Now Dai Grephar, destroy her face down monster, Sword of Dragon's Soul attack!" She continues, and the warrior slashes through a monster that is revealed to be an Apprentice Magician.

"And as the owner of the company that makes most of these cards, you should know what this does," Katie says, and takes a monster out of her deck, and sets it face down.

"Your move then," Victoria says.

_Of course her deck name makes sense now, most of her monsters are warrior-types, and the word Sol is another name for the sun, interesting,_ Katie thinks, and draws. "Sorry Victoria, but I'm going to have to win the duel now, I play Monster Reborn to bring back my Dark Magician Girl!" She says, and the female magician appears.

"What? How is she going to win the duel for you?" Victoria asks.

"Because I'm playing my spell card Megamorph, and equipping it to your Divine Mistress, sure it will only last one turn, but its enough, since it'll decrease your monster's attack by half!" Katie says, and the Divine Mistress' attack lowers to 2500. "And now, I play my spell card Pump Up, this raises my Dark Magician Girl's attack by half!" She says, and the Dark Magician Girl's attack rises to 4000.

"What, wait, how..." Victoria stutters, and closes her eyes. "Finish it, Katie, you've won."

"All right, Dark Magician Girl, destroy her Divine Mistress of the Sun with Dark Burning attack!" Katie commands, and the female spellcaster blows away the divine mistress, lowering Victoria's life points to 0.

It was over...

**00000**

_Arkana Knight Joker appeared in the Manga's special._

_Credit for Divine Mistress of the Sun goes to D4NNY_

**00000**

_**Hand Vanishing**_

_**Trap**_

_**Image of a hand of cards being sucked into a portal. When this card is played, the opponent removes their entire hand from the game, and draws 5 cards during their end phase.**_

_**Magician's Protection**_

_**Counter Trap**_

_**Image of Dark Magician casting a spell to protect Dark Magician Girl. This card can only be activated when your opponent attacks you when you have Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl on the field. The monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle this turn, but damage calculation still happens.**_

**00000**

_**Well, that's it, Katie has won against Victoria Pegasus, and will be crowned the Queen of Games.**_

_**However, the fanfiction isn't over yet, we still have one last chapter left.**_

_**Next chapter, Doppler decends onto the field, and its up to Katie to finaly put this demon out of comission. Can she do win against her own worst enemy, herself? Find out in, "Boss Rush."**_

_**As a note, I have already written chapter 55, it will be put up in exactly 3 days, in the meantime, I will be working on chapter one of the sequal to this fanfiction.**_

_**Be there, because otherwise we'll be starting without you.**_


	55. Boss Rush

_This is it, the last chapter of this fanfiction, we've gone far, but it must end now!_

_Do not worry, as I said earlier, a sequel is in the works, details will be later._

_Disclaimer: After 60 chapters of this fanfiction, I can still say that I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._

**00000**

_**I've done it, I've made it through the finals of the biggest Duel Monsters Tournament so far in my career, and I've emerged victorious over the daughter of the man who created the game.**_

_**But now its time that I take on my final challenge in this tournament, against a duelist with more power than I could've imagined, she is the demon Doppler.**_

_**She has a dangerous strategy, one that I never saw coming, one that no one could see coming.**_

_**Because this strategy, isn't supposed to exist.**_

_**If there's really a God up there, please help me.**_

**00000**

**0000000000**

**CHAPTER 55:**

**BOSS RUSH**

**0000000000**

**00000**

At the exact moment that the Dark Magician Girl's attack hits Victoria's Divine Mistress of the Sun for the win, a strange fog seems to envelop the arena.

"Congradulations Katie, you truly are worthy of the title of Queen of Games," Victoria says, as the two meet in the center of the arena. "I knew I was making the right choice by inviting you, and now this belongs to you," she says, and places a card in Katie's hand.

Katie looks at the card. "Divine Mistress of the Sun, but this is your card..." she starts.

"I don't need it anymore, Katie," Victoria says, and Katie looks puzzled. "You have one final task ahead of you."

_Doppler,_ Katie thinks in realization, she takes the two other Lux Gods, Saint Goddess of the Gale and Saint Goddess of the Tide out of her binder, and switches them and the Divine Mistress with 3 cards in her deck.

"Uhh, Yugi, is it just me, or has it gotten darker down there all of a sudden?" Joey asks.

"Oh no," Yugi says in realization.

"Mr. Motou, what's going on?" Wendy asks, looking a little nervous.

"Its a Shadow Game," Kaiba says simply.

"Its Doppler..." Ariel says with a growl.

"Who?" Aster asks.

Before anyone can answer, the walls of the arena suddenly open up, and mirrors border the dueling arena. Suddenly dark energy flows from every mirror at once, and centers on a single spot in the arena.

Rising from the floor is a now familiar form of a woman in a black cloak with an aurora of malice surrounding her.

"That's Doppler," Ariel says.

"You have outlived your usefulness, Pegasus," Doppler says, and raises a hand, and Victoria screams as the very life is torn out of her body. "She should be thankful that she's one of the believers, those that oppose Master Lucifer."

"What do you want, Doppler?" Katie demands.

"Why I want what I've always wanted, you see, it is my job to carry out the wishes of Lucifer, I travel between dimensions, and challenge the hero or heroine in your case, of that particular world," Doppler says with a shake of her head. "If I succeed, the dimension falls into chaos and despair, and I move on. Even if I lose, I cannot die unless I am defeated in the most dangerous of all dimensions, Earth."

Katie watches as Doppler begins to pace.

"When I first arrived here, arriving in New Babylon, Global Community Peacekeepers whisked me away to the office of your world leader, Joseph Strongheim. At first I thought that it might be that I had already found the one I needed, but I can't give away all the secrets, now can I?"

"Doppler, you've hidden in the shadows this whole time, now why don't you show your face?" Katie demands.

"Why certainly, Atem isn't it? Yes, I know all about the power of the Millenium Puzzle, and I'm also aware of the fact that you can't leave to the afterlife for near 5000 years," Doppler says. "But if you want me to show my face, then very well..."

Dark energy from all the mirrors flows into Doppler, and the cloak around her falls.

Standing before them is a young woman who resembles Katie, only older by at least 10 years. Instead of her hair being blonde, its obsidian black with gray bangs, she has steel gray skin, but most unsettling is that bursting out of her back, just below the shoulder blades, is two huge bat wings, she also has 2 horns growing out of her head at a curved angle, and a demonic tail snaking around her. A false Millenium Puzzle made of silver hangs around her neck.

"What on earth did you do?" Katie demands.

"I'm going to explain the rules of this duel," Doppler says. "I have become you, only demonic, to show my true self, but your still young, innocent, and pure. However every time you lose life points, part of me will seep into you, and if I am to win this duel, your human mind will be gone forever, replaced by the malicious mind of a demon. I'm sure Lilith wouldn't mind in the long run, and you might even enjoy it. But then I will be able to leave this place in your body, and Lucifer will have won!"

_Fool, the bible says that the Antichrist will lose in the end, Doppler has been in league with Strongheim all along,_ Ariel thinks in realization.

"Alright, Doppler, you and I will have a duel right now, for the fate of the world!" Katie says, activating her duel disk.

Doppler grins, and makes a motion, and a duel disk made of black crystal appears on her wrist. "But first, I need a little something from you..." she says, and holds her hand up.

Suddenly, dark energy flows from Katie's deck, and when it fades, a deck is in Doppler's hand. She looks it over with a smile.

"Good cards," she mutters. "Alright, now time to present our deckmasters, so I'll pick, Cosmo Queen!"

A tall woman spellcaster with a funny hat appears.

_Okay, I might as well use this monster, if this is a shadow game, I'd have no chance at all if she was destroyed,_ Katie thinks, taking a card out of her deck. "I'll pick my Dark Magician Girl!"

The blonde apprentice of the Dark Magician appears next to her.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"Wendy, do you think she has a chance?" Darren asks.

"I don't know," Wendy replies. "We have no idea what kind of strategy Doppler will use, but I doubt that it will be good for Katie."

"I'll go first," Doppler says, and draws. "And I think I'll start with a monster you should be familiar with, I summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!"

The familiar lesser version of Dark Magician appears, but this time he has blood red robes, and has an aura of malice surrounding him.

"What the heck did you do to him?" Katie demands.

"I copy more than just your looks, young Katie, since your a duelist, I've copied your deck as well, but made it more, evil," Doppler explains. "And I think I'll place this card face down to end my turn."

Katie draws. _All right, since she has my deck, I can use that to my advantage to figure out what she's going to do, I hope,_ she thinks, and looks her hand over. "I'll place a card face down as well, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Doppler draws. "I'll activate the spell card, Pot of Gluttony," she says, and a fat pot of greed appears on the field. "First, it will flip your face down monster face up."

The face down monster flips up, and an Apprentice Magician appears in its place.

"And I can draw cards equal to the total level of our monsters," Doppler finishes, and draws 6 cards. "The only downside is that I have to discard 3 cards," she says, discarding a Sinister Serpent, Chaos Command Magician, and Pact of Greed.

Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows bronze.

"Now Skilled Dark Magician, destroy her Apprentice Magician!"

The evil magician blasts through the small spellcaster.

"Fine, I can now take a level 2 or lower spellcaster, and set it on the field," Katie says, and a card slips out of her deck, and she sets it face down.

"I'll place two cards face down, and end my turn," Doppler finishes.

Katie draws. "I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards, and Skilled Dark Magician's staff glows silver. "Now I'll play Cost Down, I'll discard a Sinister Serpent of my own, so I can summon Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!" She says, and a green-robed spellcaster appears. "Now attack her Skilled Dark Magician with Chaos Blast!"

The magician blasts the second Magician, but suddenly the attack seems to be deflected, and Chaos Command Magician explodes.

"Sorry, but I activated a trap card known as Mirror Barrier, this counts as an equip card for one of my monsters, and for 3 turns, any monster that tries to attack it is automaticaly destroyed!" Doppler says, and a dark barrier appears around the evil Skilled Dark Magician. "Sure, you might not have this card yourself, but I can make some adjustments. Like these cards, go Embodiment of Apophis (1600/1800 x2)!"

Her two traps flip up, and the two snake men appear.

"Fine, your move," Katie says.

Doppler draws, and laughs. "First, I sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician for his effect, summoning my Dark Magician!" She says, and the monster vanishes, and the evil red robed Dark Magician Arkana once used appears. "But he won't be staying around for very long, because I'm sacrificing him and my 2 Embodiments of Apophis, to summon the first of my demon gods, the mighty, _**Wicked God Dreadroot **_(4000/4000)!"

The result is a huge demon with a snake making up his lower body, making him resemble an even uglier version of Diabound.

"Dreadroot, oh no..." Ariel says.

"Ariel, what do you know about this thing?" Kisara asks, looking a little freaked out as everyone turns to look at Ariel.

"Wicked God Dreadroot is one of three Demon God Cards, the other two are Devil's Advocate and Devil's Godsend," Ariel says. "They are 3 of Maximillion Pegasus' worst mistakes, great demonic beasts that terrorized anyone who summoned them in shadow games."

"Mistakes?" Darius asks.

"The Egyptian God cards are far from the only monsters in the game that Pegasus shouldn't have created," Marie says. "They also include Senejin, which some say is a monster of pure evil that can only be controlled by a true master of the earth element. Some cards are reported to be cursed, and bring bad luck to duelists."

"My wicked God is stronger than anything you could possibly have," Doppler says. "Now, attack her face down monster with Fear Gaze!"

Dreadroot sends a blast of dark energy at the face down monster, which is revealed to be another Apprentice Magician.

"You know what that means," Katie says, and takes another card out of her deck, and sets it face down.

"Two cards face down, your turn," Doppler says.

Katie draws. "I activate Graceful Charity," she says, and draws 3 cards, and looks them over with a smile before discarding two. "And I'm going to activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted, to bring back my Hero Kid (300/600 -150)!"

A kid in a spacesuit-like uniform appears.

"Wait, why did he lose attack points?" Katie demands.

"That would be the effect of Dreadroot," Doppler says. "He instills fear on all monsters on your side of the field, in game terms, they lose half their attack points."

"Fine, but since he was special summoned, I can bring 2 more Hero Kids to the field!" Katie says, and two more hero kids appear. "And I think I'll sacrifice all three of them to summon a Lux God known as, Saint Goddess of the Gale (4000/4000)!"

A beautiful woman carrying a staff and with long flowing robes appears.

"And when she's summoned, all dark monsters on the field are destroyed!"

Dreadroot bursts into pieces.

"Now, attack her directly!" Katie commands, and Saint Goddess of the Gale sends a blast at Doppler.

"Go trap card, A Hero Emerges!" Doppler counters, holding up her hand of 6 cards.

"Fine, 3rd card on the right," Katie says.

"Thanks, that was my Sangan, so your attack hits him instead!" Doppler says, and the 3-eyed fiend appears, and is destroyed. "Now I can add a monster with 1500 attack or fewer to my hand, and I'll chain it with my trap card, Devil's Afterimage, so I can summon one Demon Token (1000/1000), in defense mode!" She says, and a small fiend appears on the field as she takes a card out of her deck.

"Fine, your move," Katie says.

Doppler draws. "I'll play my own Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "Now, I activate, Snatch Steal, sure it will only last one turn, but I can take controll of your Goddess!"

Saint Goddess of the Gale floats over to Doppler's side.

"But I won't need her after this, I play the spell card, Fiend's Sanctuary, which lets me summon a Metal Fiend Token!" She says, and an ugly metallic monster appears. "And now, I'll sacrifice all three of them to summon the second of my Demon Gods, _**Devil's Advocate **_(?/?)!"

A wind blows up, and a dark figure wearing a black robe, and carrying a rusty scythe appears.

"Now, attack her face down monster!" Doppler commands, and the dark god slashes at the face down monster, which is Katie's last Apprentice Magician. "Since your monster had 200 defense points, Devil's Advocate's attack was 400, so you lose your monster!"

The young magician falls, and explodes in a burst of pixels.

"Fine, but I can still use her effect," Katie says, taking a card out of her deck, and setting it face down.

"One card face down, and that's it for me," Doppler says.

"This is really bad," Renee says.

"Lets hope that Katie has a plan," Marie says. "I mean, over the course of this tournament, you guys have beaten some of the best duelists in the world, I'm sure she'll find a way out of this."

Katie draws. "First, I'll flip summon my face down Magician of Faith, so I can get back a spell card, which I'll play, my Pot of Greed," Katie says, and draws 2 cards. "Now I'll place this card face down, and set another monster in defense mode."

Doppler draws. "Devil's Advocate, attack her Magician of Faith now!" She commands, and the monster swings it's scythe at the magician, but the attack is switched to Katie's face down card.

"I activated my trap card, Shift, so the attack's target is switched," Katie explains, and the face down monster is revealed to be a Cyber Jar, which sucks up all the monsters. "You know the drill," Katie says, and draws her 5 cards, then smiles. "I'll set 3 of my monsters face down, and keep the other 2."

Doppler draws her 5 cards, and looks them over. "Alright, I'll set two monsters as well, place one card face down, and end my turn there," she says.

Katie draws. "I'm going to sacrifice my 3 face down monsters, to summon the Saint Goddess of the Tide (0/0)!" She says, and a beautiful water nymph appears.

"That thing has no attack points..." Doppler says.

"Not quite, she gains 1000 attack points for every spell card in my graveyard, and I happen to have 3 right now, so her attack is 3000," Katie says with a smirk. "Now attack her face down monster now!"

The goddess blasts at the face down monster, but then it shifts to Doppler's other face down monster.

"I activated my own Shift card, don't forget, with only a few exceptions, our decks are identical, so anything you use can come right back, like my Apprentice Magician for example," she says, and the young magician appears, and then Doppler takes a card out of her deck, and places it face down.

"Fine, I'll end my turn," Katie says.

Doppler draws. "I activate the Vase of Unholy Blight, by removing a dark monster in my deck from the game..." she says, taking a card out and showing it as Ebon Magician Curran. "I can draw 3 cards," she says, and draws 3 cards, and laughs. "I've done it, I've drawn my best monster!"

"Oh no, she drew..." Ariel starts.

"Devil's Godsend," Marie says in realization.

"But first, I flip summon my face down Double Coston, so I can summon this one with only 2 sacrifices, since my Coston would count for 2, and I'll sacrifice my Coston and my face down Apprentice Magician, to summon the all-powerful, _**Devil's Godsend **_(0/0)!" She says, and the two monsters explode in a burst of darkness.

From the arena floor rises a huge bulky demon with a chain wrapped around his fists.

"Okay, Katie is in deep trouble," Renee says.

"Yugi, have you ever even heard of this card?" Mai asks.

"Only rumors," Yugi admits. "But from what I have heard, it's supposed to be very dangerous. Katie might stand a chance if she can bring out her last Lux God, if she even has it in her hand."

"Now Devil's Godsend, attack her Saint Goddess of the Tide with Devil's Chain Rend!" Doppler commands, and the demon lashes at the water nymph with his chain. "And when Devil's Godsend attacks a monster, the opponent's monster's attack goes down to 0!"

Saint Goddess of the Tide screams, and explodes, so does Devil's Godsend.

"I'll place one card face down, and end my turn," Doppler says.

Katie draws. "I'll summon my own Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), in attack mode!" She says, and the lesser version of the Dark Magician appears. "Now, lets finally do some damage, direct attack!"

The magician blasts at Doppler, and her life points fall to 2100.

"Finally, Katie managed to score a hit on her life points!" Darren says.

"Yeah, but it seems too easy, like Doppler was leading her into a trap," Renee says.

"One card face down, and that's it," Katie says.

"Alright, that wasn't bad, but you did exactly what I wanted you to do," Doppler says, and then draws. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can bring Devil's Godsend right back to the field!"

She takes her Sinister Serpent (which she had gotten back a couple of turns ago), and her demon appears again.

"And when he's special summoned, he gains 500 attack for every card in my graveyard, and since I have a total of 18, he has 9000 attack!" Doppler says, and the demon's attack shoots up to 9000. "Now, attack her Magician, and win me the duel!"

"Go trap card, Ready for Intercepting, so my monster goes into facedown defense mode!" Katie counters, and Skilled Dark Magician shifts to facedown position, before getting destroyed by the chain.

"Fine, your move," Doppler growls, and her monster explodes. "God cards are destroyed after they're special summoned."

_That move bought me a turn, but its not enough if she summons another monster,_ Katie thinks, and looks at her card. _Divine Mistress of the Sun, but I can't use her right now, I need 3 monsters still, and I don't have any,_ she thinks, and sighs. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Doppler draws, and takes back her Sinister Serpent, then discards it to bring back Devil's Godsend. "Now, I think I'll activate my two trap cards, first Pitch Black Power Stone!" She says, and a golden stone with three counters on it appears. "And next, the trap Miracle Restoring, by sacrificing two of my stone's counters, I can bring back the Dark Magician I sacrificed for my Wicked God Dreadroot!"

The evil Dark Magician appears.

"Now Dark Magician, attack her face down monster!"

The monster is revealed to be a Peten the Dark Clown.

"Sorry, but by removing him from the game, I can summon my second Peten," Katie says, and another clown appears.

"Fine, Devil's Godsend, destroy that one too!" Doppler says, and the demon slashes through the second clown.

"Here comes number 3," Katie says, and a third clown appears.

"Your move," Doppler says, and Devil's Godsend explodes. "Sure, I don't have my Demon God on the field until my next turn, but my Dark Magician is still powerful enough to bring you down!"

_She's right, this is my last Peten, I'd better hope for a miracle right now,_ Katie thinks, and closes her eyes as she draws...

**00000**

When she opens them, she finds herself in a dark abyss. Facing her is the familiar form of Victoria Pegasus.

"Katie, I'm sorry I couldn't warn you soon enough," Victoria says to Katie.

"Its okay Miss. Pegasus, but I have the card you gave me in my hand, but the situation is hopeless, I can't summon her," Katie says dejectedly.

"I believe that a brave young girl once told me that no matter how tough the situation looks, there will always be the light, and a way to get out of it," Victoria says, and Katie looks a little better. "The almighty has decided to shine on you, Katie, your destiny is to win. Now get out there, and show that demon that no one messes with our world!"

Katie smiles, and nods...

**00000**

Katie looks at the card she just drew in confusion, its completely blank. _That's weird, what could this card..._ Katie thinks, then suddenly the card begins to glow with a blinding light, and when it fades, there is indeed an image.

An image of a woman with long flowing blonde hair and white robes carrying a staff, and blessing 3 soldiers.

The card itself has a white border, and where it usually says spell card, it says, "Card of Divinity."

"Your through, Doppler, there is no next turn for you!" Katie shouts.

"What on earth do you mean?" Doppler demands.

"I have a card that will beat you, I play the Card of Divinity known as Blessings of the Goddess!" Katie exclaims.

_Card of Divinity? Oh crap!_ Doppler thinks.

"Now, I can special summon 3 monsters from my deck as long as they are under level 6, so welcome to the field my Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)..."

A white robed spellcaster appears.

"My Magician's Valkyria (1600/1800)..."

A brunette sorceress in an outfit similar to DMG's appears.

"And finally, Neo the Magical Swordsman (1700/1000)!"

A swordsman spellcaster appears.

"And now, I'll sacrifice all 3 of them, to summon the mighty, Divine Mistress of the sun!"

A beautiful woman with long flowing robes, and blonde hair appears.

"First, she gains 1000 attack for every Lux God in my graveyard..."

Divine Mistress of the Sun's attack goes up to 2000.

"Then, she gains the attack and defense of the 3 monsters I sacrificed for her!"

Divine Mistress of the Sun's attack goes up to 5000.

"No, this can't he happening!" Doppler screams.

"Oh, but it can, now for all those you've hurt, Divine Mistress of the Sun, destroy her Dark Magician!" Katie commands, and the Divine Mistress blasts at the evil Dark Magician.

"Go spell card, Contagion of Madness, if I'm going down, I'm taking some of you down with me!" Doppler shouts, and Katie's life points fall to 1500.

Part of Doppler seems to transfer to her, and she grows horns and wings.

Doppler screams as the attack ravages the Dark Magician and her life points fall to 0, and then Doppler collapses before vanishing...

It was over.

**00000**

_Wicked God Dreadroot and Mirror Barrier are both from the Yu-Gi-Oh R manga._

_The Lux Gods and Demon Gods other than Dreadroot are the creation of D4NNY, as well as the trap card Devil's Afterimage._

_Fiend's Sanctuary was used by Yugi against Marik._

**00000**

_**Pot of Gluttony**_

_**Spell Card**_

_**Image of a very fat Pot of Greed eating everything. If any monsters are face down, flip them face up. Draw one card for the total level of all monsters on the field. Then discard cards equal to half the number you drew (rounded up if uneven).**_

_**Blessings of the Goddess**_

_**Spell Card/Card of Divinity**_

_**Image of a goddess blessing 3 warriors. Special summon 3 level 6 or lower monsters from your deck to the field. The monsters summoned this way cannot attack, or defend you from a direct attack.**_

**00000**

_**New Card Type: Card of Divinity.**_

_The powers of light are mostly supported by heaven, with some exceptions. But when the time comes that a servant of light needs help the most, they will receive a Card of Divinity._

_After duels, Cards of Divinity disappear, and the chances of getting the same one twice in a row is very slim._

_While they didn't have so much of an impact on this fanfiction, Cards of Divinity will show up a lot in the sequel to this story, and so will their evil counterpart._

_Cards of Divinity are for this fanfiction only, and cannot be used anywhere else._

**00000**

**EPILOGUE**

**00000**

"Katie, you won!" Renee shouts as the finalists and their families run down to the arena.

"Katie, we're very proud of you," Tea says, and Yugi nods.

"Seto, aren't you going to say anything?" Serenity asks her husband.

"Yeah, nice work kid," Kaiba says.

"Katie, you've proven your worth in the eyes of the world, you should be happy," Ariel says.

"Its just, I get the feeling our troubles aren't over yet," Katie says with a sigh.

"Hey, no matter what happens, they can't beat us," Darren says with a grin.

"Yeah, we're a team!" Marie says in a rare moment of enthusiasm.

**00000**

"We just got word, sir, Doppler, she failed, milord," a servant says to a figure on a throne.

"I didn't expect her to win," the man says in an evil-sounding voice. "This was only the first test for young Katie."

"Should I get Dartz ready?" the servant asks.

"Give her some time," the figure says.

**00000**

Katie and her friends exit the VR building at Industrial Illusions, joined by Kisara, who had been allowed to stay with Ariel.

From there they saw a welcome sight...

The sunrise.

**00000**

_It took awhile for them to settle back into the normal lifestyle again, but Katie and her friends managed it._

_They returned to school the next week with the normal amount of uncertainty, but with confidence that things would be better..._

_They were wrong._

_In the time after the end of World War III, Strongheim seemed to be tightening his grip on the world, and now things where starting to get out of hand._

_Kisara got a job at Ariel's company HQ somewhere in the pacific, and Marie returned to the states and her life as a member of the X-Men._

_  
They say we can't choose our lives, but when we look at what we've got, do you really want to?_

After all, life goes on.

**00000**

_**Its sad, this fanfiction, which I've put so much work into, is coming to a close, and quite an explosive one at that.**_

_**But don't fret my fans, I promised you all awhile back a sequel, and that's what I'm going to give you.**_

_**Next story: Katie and her friends encounter an old sparring partner from the glory days, but something is amiss. As the world speeds towards the end of the first quarter of the tribulation, a new evil is rising again.**_

_**Don't miss my next fanfiction, "Yu-Gi-Oh Generations: Shadows of 10,000 Years."**_


End file.
